9/11 Families To President Biden: Reveal Documents or Stay Away from 20th Memorial

By Nikki Slusher

Just a few weeks away will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack, and for many it still feels like it wasn’t that long ago. Now almost 1,800 victims’ families, first responders, and survivors are calling for the president to refrain from attending the memorial ceremony next month as he has yet to fulfill his campaign promise— to unseal classified government documents revealing the Saudi Arabian government’s role in funding and knowledge of the planned attack.

The statement released by group stated that Biden should plan to skip the 20th anniversary memorial events scheduled in New York, Shanksville, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon unless he releases the documents beforehand. They believe that these documents show that Saudi Arabian officials in supporting acts of terrorism. During his campaign, Biden promised that he would be transparent and would release all relevant information they could, but has since been unresponsive to the group’s letters and requests.

NBC News obtained a statement from the group which explained their reasoning behind this request. “We cannot in good faith, and with veneration to those lost, sick, and injured, welcome the president in our hallowed grounds until he fulfills his commitment.” They continued, “Since the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission in 2004 much investigative evidence has been uncovered implicating Saudi government officials in supporting the attacks…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 documents the group is referring to are from an FBI investigation that was completed in 2016. These documents allegedly unveil links between the terrorists and Saudi officials, sources familiar with the documents say. As for the 9/11 commission, it concluded that Saudi Arabia had been a “problematic ally” specifically when it came to intelligence sharing; however, the report did not implicate officials directly to the attacks.

“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 claimed. It also revealed Saudi officials as a major source of funding for al Qaeda. The Saudi Arabia government as always denied any involvement or links to the attacks.

One group spokesman Brett Eagleson, whose father died at the World Trade Center, said in an interview that “the buck stops at the president.” “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.”

A Biden administration official familiar with the matter told NBC News that the Justice Department is expected to review the documents and see which are able to be released without national security concerns. These same reasons are cited as why the previous Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations refused to declassify the documents.

Although a quick review is wanted, it is unlikely to be done before the 20th anniversary. Eagleson replied that “the promise of a review is simply not enough. Our expectation is that we will begin to receive the information we seek before the 20th anniversary.”

The release of the documents are eagerly anticipated to be shocking to the public on the most memorable attack in modern history.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]