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Former Sen. Bob Graham says ‘all the evidence points to’ Saudi Arabia’s involvement with 9/11 terrorists

Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) is co-chair of a joint congressional investigation into Saudi Arabia’s suspected connection to the 9/11 attacks.

The co-chair of a joint congressional investigation that penned a report at the center of the unfolding controversy over Saudi Arabia’s suspected connection to the 9/11 attacks revealed Sunday he felt that “all the evidence points to” the shadowy kingdom having aided the terrorists responsible for 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,” former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who helped author the 2002 report based on a joint House and Senate Intelligence Committee probe into the attacks, 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.”

Graham’s report, which comprised 850 pages, contained a 28-page section — which remains classified — that many have speculated contains damning information connecting the 9/11 hijackers, 15 of 19 whom were Saudi citizens, to the Saudi government.

But when asked whether he felt the still-classified documents would reveal a connection between the attackers and the Saudi government, or simply “wealthy individuals who happen to be Saudi,” Graham demurred.

That is a very murky line. Saudi Arabia has made it murky by its own legal action. Whenever a U.S. group sues a Saudi Arabian entity, whether it’s a bank, a foundation, a charity, immediately, the defense of sovereign immunity is raised,” Graham said. “The Saudis don’t recognize the difference between a royal decision and a societal decision in the same way that other countries might. So I think it covers a broad range, from the highest ranks of the kingdom through these, what would be private entities.

The former lawmaker has repeatedly pressed for the declassification of those pages — a call echoed in recent months by the families of 9/11 victims and a request being considered by President Obama.

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.

When asked what the potential damage of the papers’ release would be to the U.S.-Saudi relationship “on a scale of one to ten,” Graham, who left Capitol Hill in 2005, replied bluntly and specifically: “7.838.”

So you think it will have a high level negative impact,” host Chuck Todd replied.

Yes,” Graham said.

The documents were originally classified by the George W. Bush White House, but even one former administration official suggested Sunday that the U.S. should “just make all 28 pages public.”

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