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Nearly 1,800 Americans directly affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks oppose President Joe Biden’s participation in any commemorative event this year, unless he delivers on his promise to declassify US government evidence that, according to them, could show a link between the Saudi leadership and the attacks.
Family members of the victims, first responders and survivors will issue a statement Friday calling on Biden to ignore the 20th anniversary events in New York City and Shanksville, Pa., And at the Pentagon unless he releases the documents, which they say involve Saudi officials in the support. acts of terrorism. The group claims that as a candidate, Biden has pledged to be more transparent and divulge as much information as possible, but his administration has since ignored their letters and requests.
“We cannot in good faith, and with reverence for those lost, sick and injured, welcome the president to our sacred lands until he fulfills his pledge,” they wrote in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“Since the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission in 2004, a great deal of investigative evidence has been uncovered, implicating Saudi government officials in supporting the attacks,” the statement said. “Across multiple jurisdictions, the Justice Department 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. “
Among the documents sought by the group is supporting evidence found during a major FBI investigation into the attacks that examined alleged ties to Saudi Arabia and which ended in 2016.
Brett Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, died at the World Trade Center, said he and his co-signers “are collectively at their wit’s end with our own government.”
“We are frustrated, tired and saddened that the US government has chosen for 20 years to keep information about the deaths of our loved ones behind locks,” said Eagleson, who is part of a group of relatives of the victims. who have filed a federal lawsuit accusing Saudi Arabia of being complicit in the attacks.
While the 9/11 Commission report found Saudi Arabia to have been a “problematic ally”, especially when it came to sharing intelligence, the investigation found no evidence implicating Saudi leaders in the attack.
“Commission staff have found no evidence that the Saudi government, as an institution or as individual senior officials, knowingly supports or supports al Qaeda; However, the lack of awareness of the problem and the inability to exercise oversight over institutions created an environment in which such activity flourished, ”the report said.
He did, however, identify Saudi nationals as a major source of funding for Al Qaeda. The Saudi government has denied any connection to the attacks.
Eagleson said he was confident senior Saudi government officials were aware of the planned attack and did nothing to stop it.
Among the evidence he cites is the 2017 sworn testimony of former FBI Special Agent Stephen Moore, who was in charge of the Los Angeles Task Force for PENTTBOM, the FBI’s investigation into the terrorist attacks. September 11th.
“Based on the evidence we gathered during our investigation, I concluded that the diplomatic and intelligence personnel of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia knowingly provided material support to the two 9/11 hijackers and facilitated the 9/11 plot. My colleagues in our investigation shared this conclusion, ”Moore said in his affidavit.
The administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump have also refused to declassify the supporting documents, citing national security concerns. The Trump administration invoked state secret privilege in 2019 to justify maintaining classified documents.
“Twenty years later, there is simply no reason – unsubstantiated claims of ‘national security’ or whatever – to keep this information secret,” the group wrote. “But if President Biden renounces his commitment and sides with the Saudi government, we would be compelled to publicly oppose any participation of his administration in any 9/11 commemoration ceremony.”
Eagleson said in an interview: “The responsibility ends with the president.”
He and his fellow 9/11 community members were “ignored” by the attorney general, the director of the FBI and other senior administration officials, he said.
Biden “really has to be the one to step up and take action,” Eagleson said, adding that families hope one day the president “works with us and not against us.”
Eagleson said his group was optimistic after a letter from candidate Biden in October pledging transparency on the matter.
“I intend to be the president of all Americans and I will hear all of their voices,” Biden wrote. “The families of September 11 are right to seek full truth and accountability. … I will ask my Attorney General to personally examine the merits of all cases where invocation of privilege is recommended, and to favor disclosure in cases where, as here, the events in question have occurred. two or more decades ago. “
But most letters and attempts to reach the administration since Biden’s inauguration have gone unanswered, and now, Eagleson said, the patience is running out.
“We had high hopes that President Biden, who campaigned to bring truth and confidence back to the Oval Office, would value the lives and sacrifices of American citizens rather than diplomatic relations with a country accused of mass murder,” he said. Eagleson said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Eagleson said he believes the US government will not release the documents due to the close diplomatic and military ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
“Twenty years is far too long for anyone, especially thousands of American families, to learn the truth about what happened to their loved ones,” he said, saying he was “cruel and unusual for the government to make us wait so long. “
Eagleson argued that the community of 9/11 family members, survivors and first responders did everything the government asked them to after the attacks. “Now, 20 years later, when we need it, they rub salt into an open wound and don’t give us the documents,” he said.
“It shouldn’t take so many fights,” he said. “The President of the United States should be next to us. “
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