WASHINGTON: The US government said it will review files relevant to the Sept. 11 attacks after victims’ families asked President Joe Biden to skip memorials unless he declassified documents they contend will show Saudi Arabian leaders supported the attacks.
“My administration is committed to ensuring the maximum degree of transparency under the law,” Biden said in a statement. “I welcome the Department of Justice’s filing today, which commits to conducting a fresh review of documents where the government has previously asserted privileges, and to doing so as quickly as possible.”
Family members of victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, which killed nearly 3,000 people, made the appeal to Biden in a letter released on Friday as the 20th anniversary nears.
The victims’ family members, joined by first responders and survivors of the attack, released a letter calling on Biden to skip this year’s memorial events unless he releases the documents.
“Since the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission in 2004 much investigative evidence has been uncovered implicating Saudi government officials in supporting the attacks,” the letter stated.
“Through multiple administrations, the Department of Justice and the FBI have actively sought to keep this information secret and prevent the American people from learning the full truth about the 9/11 attacks,” the letter said.
In total, about 1,700 people directly affected by the September 11 attacks signed the letter last week. Saudi Arabia has insisted it had no role in the attacks. Family members of the September 11 victims have long sought US government documents related to whether Saudi Arabia aided or financed any of the 19 people associated with al-Qaeda who carried out the devastating attack.
The office of US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said the FBI had “decided to review” earlier claims it had made about why it could not release some information requested by families. Prosecutors said the FBI had decided to review earlier assertions it had made about documents being privileged “to identify additional information appropriate for disclosure” and added that it “will disclose such information on a rolling basis as expeditiously as possible.”
James Kreindler, a lawyer for some families, said he and his clients hoped the FBI and Justice Department moves indicated “we will be getting documents we have been seeking for years.” He said such documents include reports on the investigation of the attacks as well as documents related to Operation Encore, a review by the FBI of its Sept. 11 probe conducted in 2016.
Families of victims and their lawyers have complained for years that US agencies were sitting on documents describing Saudi Arabian links to the attackers. In recent weeks, White House officials had several meetings with groups representing the September 11 families regarding their document requests
In 2020, a US judge directed Saudi Arabia’s government to make 24 current and former officials, including a former ambassador to the US, available for questioning in a lawsuit by families claiming Saudis provided assistance to the September 11 attackers.
