9/11 Report's Classified Pages Released Showing Numerous Saudi Connections

In a classic move to reduce media exposure, the government finally released late Friday afternoon the remaining 28 pages from the 9/11 Commission’s report that had been classified for the last 14 years. The documents appear to show that Saudi government and related officials here in the United States had numerous contacts with a number of the hijackers, and, in the most damning case, provided two of the hijackers with substantial assistance after their arrival in Southern California in 2000. Omar al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi intelligence officer, was reported to have met hijackers al-Mahdhar and al-Hazmi publicly shortly after al-Bayoumi attended a meeting at the Saudi Consulate. al-Bayoumi apparently had a no-show job with a company associated with the Saudi Defense Ministry that originally “paid” him about $465 per month but that number jumped to $3700 per month immediately after the two hijackers arrived and remained over $3000 until he left the country in August, 2011. al-Bayoumi apparently also paid the security and first month’s rent for the two hijackers and asked an associate to help them get driver’s licenses and find a flight school. In addition, he was reported to have made over 100 calls to Saudi officials between January and May of 2000.

The findings were based on the Commission’s review of CIA and FBI files and the details relied largely on informants from those agencies who, admittedly, are not necessarily reliable. And, just because the hijackers had contact with Saudi representatives does not mean that the Saudi government planned or had foreknowledge of the attacks. But you would think that since these hijackers had entered the country to engage in a brutal terrorist attack, they would be staying as far away as possible from anyone with a government affiliation, Saudi or otherwise. You can read the whole report here. Kudos should go especially to Kristen Breitweiser and the 9/11 families for keeping relentless pressure on the government to release these documents.