The classified 28-page section of a joint congressional report thought to contain information connecting Saudi Arabia to the 9/11 attacks could be released as early as June, the top U.S. intelligence official said Monday.
“I think that is certainly a realistic goal from where we stand with that,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast when asked if the documents could be made public by June.
“We are in the position of trying to coordinate interagency position on the declassification of the 28 pages,” added Clapper, whose office is in charge of deciding whether to declassify the papers.
The 28 pages — which are from a 2002 report based on a joint House and Senate Intelligence Committee probe into the 9/11 attacks — have remained classified since the George W. Bush presidency, fueling rampant speculation they may contain damning information connecting the 9/11 hijackers to the Saudi government.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said last week that the commander-in-chief had already asked Clapper for a declassification review and the decision was in the hands of the agency.
The families of 9/11 victims have urged Obama to declassify and release the pages, and former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who helped author the 2002 report, has repeatedly suggested the documents show that top Saudi officials are connected to the devastating act that killed nearly 3,000 people.
“To me, the most important unanswered question of 9/11 is did these 19 (hijackers) conduct this very sophisticated plot alone, or were they supported? I think it’s implausible to think that people who couldn’t speak English, had never been in the United States before, as a group were not well-educated could have done that,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“So who was the most likely entity to have provided them that support?” Graham continued. “All the evidence points to Saudi Arabia. We know that Saudi Arabia started Al Qaeda. It was a creation of Saudi Arabia.”
Opponents of releasing the documents have argued that their revelations could irreparably harm relations between the two traditionally allied nations — a possibility Graham wouldn’t deny.
