In the US, families of 9/11 victims urge Trump to declassify files on Saudi Arabia
In the United States, families of victims of the September 11 attacks are calling on President Donald Trump to declassify additional government documents concerning possible assistance to the plane hijackers by individuals linked to Saudi Arabia. According to an opinion column in The Jerusalem Post, members of Congress from both parties have joined the call.
These include materials concerning Omar al-Bayoumi and his contacts with Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, two hijackers who arrived in Southern California. As stated in the article, al-Bayoumi helped them find housing and acted as a guarantor on the lease agreement. The question of why he did this and whether he was acting on someone’s behalf remains disputed.
Declassified FBI materials
In 2016, following pressure from the families of those killed and members of Congress, US authorities released 28 previously classified pages from a congressional investigation. The documents concerned contacts between some of the hijackers and people who had ties to Saudi officials.
In 2021, President Joe Biden ordered a review of documents on the attacks for possible declassification. The released materials included FBI records related to Operation Encore. The operation investigated whether individuals connected to the Saudi Arabian government assisted al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar after their arrival in Southern California.
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One FBI memorandum examined whether Musaid al-Jarrah, a senior official in the Islamic Affairs Department of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, may have directed the actions of Fahad al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bayoumi. The records also indicate that from January to May 2000, phones linked to al-Bayoumi made nearly 100 calls to Saudi government institutions in the United States.
Court proceedings
In August 2025, Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York denied Saudi Arabia’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by families of 9/11 victims. The ruling concerned jurisdiction and was not a final determination of liability.
According to the account in the column, the judge said that the plaintiffs had provided sufficient evidence concerning the role of al-Bayoumi, al-Thumairy, and Saudi Arabia in assisting the hijackers. He also concluded that al-Bayoumi’s contacts with the hijackers were most likely not accidental. Saudi Arabia appealed the decision; oral arguments before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals are scheduled for October 7.
The column’s author writes that the families of the victims are seeking the release of all relevant federal materials. They propose redacting documents only in cases where this is necessary to protect active intelligence sources or methods.
