U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch is calling for a congressional hearing on Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks now that 28 pages of once top secret documents on the 2001 tragedy have finally been released.
“There’s a persistent effort to keep this secret, to protect themselves, to protect the Saudis,” said Lynch, who had previously viewed the declassified pages and pushed for their release. “Thousands of Americans are slaughtered and the response by our intelligence agencies is to cover it up? That’s disgraceful.”
Lynch is one of several officials who, along with family members of Sept. 11 victims, have repeatedly called for the release of the classified pages in an 800-page congressional inquiry into the activities of U.S. intelligence agencies before and after the attacks. Those 28 pages were classified when the report was released in 2003 at the request of then-President George W. Bush in order to protect intelligence sources.
Lynch co-sponsored a resolution calling for the release of the pages in 2013 and President Obama ordered a review of them earlier this year, before the House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence declassified them — with some redactions — yesterday.
Worries that declassifying the pages could hurt intelligence were “unfounded,” according to Lynch, who said the real reason for classification was to preserve a good relationship with Saudi Arabia and preserve the standing of intelligence agencies.
“Our intelligence services might have been a little bit embarrassed about what was going on, gaps in their coverage,” said Lynch, who intends to hold congressional hearings about the performance of U.S. intelligence services. He said the pages could also help victims’ families in a potential lawsuit against Saudi Arabia.
Christie Coombs, whose husband Jeff was killed in the 9/11 attacks, said many families have long suspected Saudi government support for the murderous mission. She said it was about time the pages were released.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry, to make sure that there was no classified information (released) that could put us in harm’s way, but did it have to wait 15 years? I don’t know,” Coombs told the Herald.
The declassified pages do not make any direct connections between Saudi officials and the Sept. 11 attacks, but outline numerous links between two of the attackers, other terrorists, suspected Saudi spies, Saudi charities and Saudi officials — including Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar making a payment to a suspected Saudi spy who had ties to two of the hijackers, and another suspected Saudi spy housing those two hijackers for several days.
And the declassified pages blast U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to collaborate on investigations of Saudi nationals, or to devote significant time to those investigations, saying the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not focus on investigations on Saudi nationals because of Saudi Arabia’s status as an “ally” and that the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency only began working together to address the Saudi issue after commissioners began their inquiry.