Nearly 1,800 friends and family members of 9/11 victims, first responders, and survivors released a statement Friday calling on President Joe Biden to skip tributes on the 20th anniversary of the attacks unless he releases documents that they believe could shed light on Saudi Arabia’s alleged complicity.
While Biden is likely to commemorate the solemn occasion at ground zero, “we cannot in good faith, and with veneration to those lost, sick, and injured, welcome the president to our hallowed grounds until he fulfills his commitment,” they wrote.
AFTER 20 YEARS, TIME TO DECLASSIFY 9/11 DOCUMENTS, SAY SENATORS
The mention of a previous commitment from Biden refers to an October 2020 letter in which, as a presidential candidate, he promised that the Department of Justice would work to release information instead of relying on “the invocation of the state secrets privilege.”
In the letter, Biden accused then-Attorney General William Barr of using the secrecy privilege “to prevent the discovery by the families of FBI information that could shed light on actions that Saudi officials may have taken to assist the hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks.”
Their “patience” for being “used as a political bargaining chip for two decades” has “expired,” the group said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “remains committed” to the campaign pledge when she was asked about the letter at the briefing on Friday.
“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, given its continuation of policies that thwart Americans’ rights to hold accountable those who, known evidence reveals, materially supported the 9/11 hijackers,” the group added.
The release of the documents on Saudi Arabia, they said, would allow the families “to rightfully obtain justice against the Kingdom,” and they argued that the Biden administration should implement a new policy stating that Saudi Arabia “must acknowledge its role in terrorist attacks against our citizens and residents.”
A day before the letter was released, a bipartisan group of senators announced legislation that they say would increase governmental transparency regarding federal 9/11 investigations. A companion bill is said to be coming in the House as well.
The September 11 Transparency Act of 2021, if enacted, would require the Department of Justice, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Director of National Intelligence to consider declassifying key documents related to the 9/11 federal investigations. It does not specify individual documents that would be declassified; rather, the agencies would have to complete declassification reviews as laid out through their existing processes.
The bill is molded from the declassification view of the Osama bin Laden raid that passed in Congress in 2014.
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“Twenty years is far too long to go for anybody, especially for us, but for the American people as well, to go without knowing the truth. It’s just nauseating and painful and difficult, but we are so proud to stand with our champions and our supporters,” said Brett Eagleson, the national co-chair of 9/11 Community United, said in a statement.
“I think we’re so close, and I think we’re going to get there. I have all the confidence in the world that we’re finally going to cross the finish line, and on the 20th year anniversary, the families will finally get the closure that they deserve,” Eagleson, who also signed the letter to Biden, added.
