9/11 Families Warn Biden: ‘Don’t Come to Our Memorials’
Biden broke promise to release as much information as possible,
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Americans directly affected by the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks in 2001 warned Joe Biden not to participate in any memorial events unless he upholds his pledge to release U.S. government evidence showing links between Saudi Arabian leaders and the attacks.
Families, survivors, and first responders are set to release a statement calling on Biden not to attend the 20th-anniversary events unless he declassifies the documents.
As a candidate, Biden promised to release as much information as possible regarding 9/11, but since then, his administration has totally ignored their letters and requests.
The families wrote in a statement obtained by NBC News:
“We cannot believe in good faith, and with veneration to those lost, sick, and injured, welcome the president to our hallowed grounds until he fulfills his commitment."
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“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 statement says.
“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.”
In the documents are supporting evidence found during a widespread FBI investigation that probed alleged Saudi links, which were completed in 2016.
Brett Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, lost his life at the World Trade Center, said he and his co-signers “collectively are at our wits’ end with our own government.”
“We are frustrated, tired, and saddened with the fact that the U.S. government for 20 years has chosen to keep information about the death of our loved ones behind lock and key,” said Eagleson.
The 9/11 Commission report found no evidence implicating Saudi leaders in the attack.
“The Commission staff found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or as individual senior officials knowingly support or supported al Qaeda; however, a lack of awareness of the problem and a failure to conduct oversight over institutions created an environment in which such activity has flourished,” the report said.
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But it did identify Saudi nationals as a significant funding source for the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
Eagleson believes the senior leaders in the Saudi government were aware of the terrorist plot.
He cites a sworn testimony of former FBI Special Agent Stephen Moore in 2017, who was in charge of the Los Angeles Task Force Team for PENTTBOM.
“Based on the evidence we gathered during the course of our investigation, I concluded that 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 that conclusion,” Moore said in his affidavit.
“Twenty years later, there is simply no reason — unmerited claims of ‘national security or otherwise — to keep this information secret,” the group wrote.
“But if President Biden reneges on his commitment and sides with the Saudi government, we would be compelled to publicly stand in objection to any participation by his administration in any memorial ceremony of 9/11.”
He says the attorney general, the FBI director, and other senior officials have ignored his fellow 9/11 community members.
Biden “really needs to be the one to step up and take action,” Eagleson said.
Following a letter from candidate Biden in October pledging transparency about the matter, Eagleson said his group was optimistic.
“I intend to be a President for all Americans and will hear all of their voices,” Biden wrote.
“The 9/11 Families are right to seek full truth and accountability. ... I will direct my Attorney General to personally examine the merits of all cases where the invocation of privilege is recommended, and to err on the side of disclosure in cases where, as here, the events in question occurred two decades or longer ago.”
Since then, Biden has remained silent.
“We had great hope that President Biden, who campaigned on bringing truth and trust back to the Oval Office, would value the lives and sacrifices of America’s citizens over diplomatic relations with a country accused of mass murder,” Eagleson said.
