Families of 9/11 victims send message to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

Two campaign groups representing families of 9/11 victims have written to both presidential candidates, urging them to confront Saudi Arabia over its alleged links to the attacks.

The letters highlight evidence that emerged in June in the ongoing trial of 9/11 victims’ families against the country’s government, in which they claim that Saudi officials supported the 9/11 hijackers (15 of the 19 were Saudi citizens) before the September 2001 attacks. The Saudi government has denied any involvement.

In its letter, 9/11 Justice called on Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump “not to endorse any normalization agreement involving Saudi Arabia unless it fully addresses the role of the Saudi government.”

The group said 3,000 signatories had endorsed its appeal, which it called “essential to the integrity of our nation and the memory” of the 2,977 people killed in the attacks.

In a separate letter, 9/11 Families United, which represents 10,000 family members of victims, urged Harris and Trump to “prioritize transparency and accountability” and support legislation that would help American victims hold foreign sponsors of terrorism accountable.

The calls come after video obtained by British police was first reported in June by CBS. 60 minutes The video was released. It shows Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi, identified by the FBI in 2017 as a Saudi intelligence agent linked to two 9/11 hijackers, filming the U.S. Capitol in 1999. He is also heard referring to a “plan.”

Federal investigators believe the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 were targeting the Capitol before passengers returned fire and the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell said the new video left “no doubt in my mind that al-Qaeda commissioned Bayoumi to make this research video.”

The evidence is sufficient to warrant further evaluation, according to the man who headed the CIA at the time of the attacks, George Tenet. “The families of the victims of 9/11 deserve nothing less,” a Tenet spokesman said. The New York Times in an article dated August 9.

Al-Bayoumi denies any involvement in the September 11 attacks. The Saudi government has declined to comment. 60 minutes about the video when it came out.

Newsweek Representatives for the Harris and Trump campaigns, as well as the Saudi government, were reached for comment by email Wednesday.

Terry Strada, president of 9/11 Families United, wrote that the evidence showed the Saudi government was “deeply tied to al-Qaeda in the decade leading up to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and provided al-Qaeda with crucial support that allowed it to plan and carry out its deadly mission.”

In its letter to Harris, the group said it appreciated President Joe Biden’s 2021 order to conduct a full review of the declassification of documents from the 9/11 investigation. But the group is disappointed that its promise to make Saudi Arabia a pariah for the October 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was subsequently abandoned.

The latter added that 9/11 families hoped that “supporting 9/11 families and seeking accountability” would be part of Harris’ “new path forward” if she wins the November election.

In the letter to Trump, the families said they were deeply disappointed that his administration had not declassified the documents and also because of his subsequent support for the “sportswashing” of Saudi Arabia through LIV Golf.

But he added that “we appreciate your recent renewed commitment to full government transparency around the 9/11 attacks,” referring to Trump’s June 2 interview with Fox News in which he said he would declassify the 9/11 files.