Blumenthal, Johnson Seek Complete Records of Saudi Arabia's Role in 9/11 Attacks
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and as part of an ongoing inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s attempts to influence United States, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) asked the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to provide the complete, unredacted records of Saudi Arabia’s role in the attacks and requested a full explanation of any ongoing need for classification of any portions of these records.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, PSI Chair Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ranking Member Ron Johnson (R-WI) noted that since an earlier request for these materials in July, “we have not received a single document or obtained an explanation for any of the hundreds of redactions that remain, despite the government’s recent declassification review.”
“Your failure to respond to our letter only adds to our concerns about the U.S. government’s longstanding refusal to provide full transparency to the American public, and particularly for the families of 9/11 victims, about Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks,” the senators wrote.
The full text of the letter is available here and copied below.
Dear Attorney General Garland and Director Wray:
Tomorrow marks the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which took nearly 3,000 lives and reshaped the world as we then knew it. No one was more affected by these attacks than the families of those whose lives were lost on that day, and who have struggled to obtain accountability ever since. Our inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s attempts to influence U.S. affairs has underscored, yet again, the need for transparency, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia’s connection to the 9/11 attacks.
We wrote to you on July 18, 2023, asking that the U.S. government finally provide full transparency into what it knows about the attacks, particularly as it relates to Saudi Arabia’s involvement.[1] In that letter, we requested access to the complete, unredacted records of Saudi Arabia’s role (including the records in Appendix A) and asked that you explain any ongoing need for classification of any portions of these records. In an August 8, 2023 meeting, our staff told Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials to prioritize producing an unredacted copy of the 11-page document contained in Appendix A. Over one month since that call and nearly two months since our initial letter request, we have not received a single document or obtained an explanation for any of the hundreds of redactions that remain, despite the government’s recent declassification review.[2]
Your failure to respond to our letter only adds to our concerns about the U.S. government’s longstanding refusal to provide full transparency to the American public, and particularly for the families of 9/11 victims, about Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks. We therefore write to reiterate our July 18, 2023 request for unredacted copies of documents related to Saudi Arabi’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks, including removing redactions from the documents that have been released pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order 14040 calling for the “Declassification Reviews of Certain Documents Concerning the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.”[3] We also reiterate our specific request that you provide the unredacted copy of Appendix A and ask that you provide these documents as well as a briefing regarding the need any ongoing classification on Thursday, September 14, 2023.[4]
Should DOJ and the FBI fail to provide the briefing and continue to fail to provide the requested unredacted documents by this deadline, the Subcommittee will be forced to consider the use of the other tools at its disposal to ensure compliance.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
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