As today marks the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a bipartisan group of senators is still trying to obtain unredacted records of Saudi Arabia’s role in the Islamic extremist terrorist attacks.
In addition to the request for unredacted records, the senators are asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI to provide a full explanation for any ongoing need for classification of any portions of these records.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) note that after a 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 letter is here and below:
September 10, 2023
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
1 See Attachment 1, Letter from Senator Richard Blumenthal, Chair, and Senator Ron Johnson, Ranking Member, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to The Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General, Department of Justice, and the Honorable Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (July 18, 2023).
2 See id; see also Executive Order 14040 Release Update 3, https://vault.fbi.gov/9-11-attacks-investigation-and- related-materials/9-11-material-released-in-response-to-executive-order-14040/executive-order-14040-release- update-3/view.
Hon. Merrick Garland and Hon. Christopher Wray September 10, 2023
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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 for 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. Sincerely,
Richard Blumenthal
Chairman
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
cc: The Honorable Michael Horowitz Inspector General
Department of Justice
Ron Johnson
Ranking Member
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
3 Exec. Order No. 14040, 86 Fed. Reg. 50439 (Sept. 3, 2021).
4 Should the briefing require, it can be held in the Office of Senate Security.
Appendix 1
The Honorable Merrick Garland Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
The Honorable Christopher Wray Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
July 18, 2023
Dear Attorney General Garland and Director Wray:
We write to request all records1 related to Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Since 9/11, families of the victims have struggled to get complete transparency from the U.S. government, particularly relating to Saudi Arabia’s connections to the attacks that unfolded that day. For many years, these families have advocated for the U.S. government to declassify and release records showing the extent to which federal agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are aware of potential Saudi government links to 9/11.2
Our most recent Subcommittee hearing focused on the Saudi Arabian government’s financial influence in the United States.3 At that hearing, Ranking Member Johnson entered into the record documents that he received from representatives of individuals who lost loved ones on 9/11. The heavily-redacted documents enclosed as Appendix A to this letter represent just a small sample of information the U.S. government has declassified regarding its investigations into potential Saudi involvement in 9/11.
We understand the FBI has declassified over 4,000 pages of documents relating to the federal government’s investigation into the 9/11 attacks.4 The number of redactions that DOJ, FBI, and other agencies have made in these documents have prevented 9/11 families and the
1 “Records” include any written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports, notes, electronic data (emails, email attachments, and any other electronically-created or stored information), calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents).
2 See, e.g., Long-Secret FBI Report Reveals New Connections Between 9/11 Hijackers and Saudi Religious Officials in U.S., Sept 12, 2021, https://www.propublica.org/article/long-secret-fbi-report-reveals-new-connections-between- 9-11-hijackers-and-saudi-religious-officials-in-u-s.
3 The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia’s Influence in the United States: Hearing Before the S. Permanent Subcomm. on Investigations, 118th Cong. (2023).
4 Executive Order 14040 Release Update 3, https://vault.fbi.gov/9-11-attacks-investigation-and-related-materials/9- 11-material-released-in-response-to-executive-order-14040/executive-order-14040-release-update-3/view.
Hon. Merrick Garland and Hon. Christopher Wray July 18, 2023
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American people from receiving adequate transparency and important access to the information the federal government has about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While classification of certain information is important, there is a strong public interest in disclosure of all information relating to the worst terrorist attacks that have taken place on American soil.
It has been nearly 22 years since the 9/11 attacks. We urge the FBI to declassify and make public all remaining information related to Saudi Arabia’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.”5
We request that you provide the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations with unredacted copies of these documents. To the extent that any information in these documents must remain classified, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security. Additionally, we request a briefing to help the Subcommittee better understand the steps that FBI and DOJ have taken to ensure that records pertaining to the 9/11 attacks are not subject to unnecessary classification.
Please provide this information and briefing as soon as possible but no later than August 8, 2023. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Richard Blumenthal
Chairman
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
cc: The Honorable Michael Horowitz Inspector General
U.S. Department of Justice Enclosure
5 Exec. Order No. 14040, 86 Fed. Reg. 50439 (Sept. 3, 2021).
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Time to re-read Zbignew Brezinki’s “Game Plan”. (Yes, that same Brezinski, the father of Morning Joe’s Mika Zebrinksi)
Was he issuing a game plan to the CIA to “wake America up” with a significant event that would make them concentrate on China and the future of Middle East oil, particularly Iraq oil, the second largest oil reserves in the Middle East?
He wanted the US to control any future oil distribution to China, but first the US had to get their hands on it. Did life imitate art after he wrote “Game Plan”, or was he just blowing smoke about possibilities.