On Friday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that declassified important documents. He asked the Department of Justice to oversee a review of certain documents that reported about the 9/11 attacks. Families of victims of 9/11 have been pressuring the release of documents as they want to know if Saudi Arabia was involved in aiding the hijackers. The order says that the Attorney General has to release any declassified documents in the next six months.
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Although it could take several months for the release of these documents CBS News reports that a former FBI agent, Danny Gonzalez told them that he believed that two of the hijackers had a support network based in the nation. Documents that are a part of a still-secret investigation called “Operation Encore” could be among the released documents.
In his first television interview, Gonzalez said that 19 hijackers could not commit 3,000 mass murders “by themselves.”
When asked if he believed that there was a network in the nation that offered support to the hijackers he answered saying that although he could not comment on it, a person did not need to be an FBI agent with 26 years of experience “to figure that out.”
Gonzalez mentioned the names of two hijackers: Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdar who were helped by many Saudis including Omar al-Bayoumi. He also said that he could not reveal certain information under FBI orders on Operation Encore.
Another former agent, Ken Williams had written a memo saying that some people who were taking flight lessons in Arizona could be potential terrorists. He said that he could not be more specific due to a protective order.
Families of 9/11 are suing the Saudi government, who deny official involvement. The Commission committee report said that Bayoumi was not involved. A Saudi embassy official spokesman in Washington had no comment for CBS News when they asked for answers to questions and wanted to hear directly from Bayoumi.