A federal lawsuit moving forward in Manhattan could open the floodgates to tightly held government secrets about foreign connections to the 9/11 attacks.
While the Obama administration refuses to make public the censored 28 pages of the congressional intelligence report implicating the Saudi government in the terror strike — defying bipartisan requests from lawmakers — the two investigators who authored the long-secret section will more than likely be called to testify in the lawsuit brought against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Former FBI investigator Michael Jacobson and former Justice Department attorney Dana Lesemann ran down FBI leads tying Saudi officials to some of the Saudi hijackers and documented their findings in the report.
Jacobson and Lesemann went on to work for the independent 9/11 Commission, where they uncovered more evidence and connected new dots to the Saudi Embassy in Washington and the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles.
During a July 30 court hearing, lawyers for 9/11 victims’ families and insurers revealed that the staffers’ most serious allegations against the Saudis were stricken from the final draft of the 9/11 Commission report as well.
“They were removed at the 11th hour by the senior staff,” plaintiffs’ attorney Sean Carter of Cozen O’Connor said, explaining that the decision was a “political matter.”
Carter said that the staff investigators “felt they had documented a direct link between the Saudi government and the Sept. 11 plot based on the explosive material they had uncovered concerning the activities of Fahad al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bayoumi.”
Thumairy was employed at the time as a Saudi religious cleric and diplomat in Los Angeles, while Bayoumi was employed by the Saudi Arabian civil aviation authority in San Diego.
The suit charges that two of the Saudi hijackers, who first entered the United States in Los Angeles before traveling to Washington to attack the Pentagon, were funded through the Saudi embassy and consulate — and that they were handled primarily by Saudi “agent” Bayoumi while staying in San Diego.
The judge now has a 60-to-90-day window to decide whether to dismiss the case based on the Saudi pleading or let 9/11 families proceed to discovery, which could expose the role of other, more senior Saudi officials.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Jerry Goldman says he is optimistic the judge will decide in their favor.
“He wasn’t buying their spin,” he said in a phone interview. “The burden is on the kingdom to prove we are wrong, and they didn’t do that.”
Originally published at DailyMail by Tim Macfarlan on 8/10/15
Federal lawsuit could reveal contents of 28 pages omitted from 9/11 report that allegedly implicate Saudi government
- A congressional intelligence report had the explosive pages redacted
- The two men who authored them are likely to be called to appear in court
- The lawsuit has been brought by victims’ families against Saudi kingdom
- Suit claims links between two hijackers and former Saudi figures in US
A federal lawsuit could reveal details implicating the Saudi government in 9/11.
A congressional intelligence report contains 28 censored pages reportedly linking Saudi officials to two of the Saudi hijackers.
The Obama administration refuses to publish the pages, despite requests from Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
Now, the two investigators who authored the section are expected to be called to testify in a federal lawsuit against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia brought by families and insurers of the victims of the atrocity.
Michael Jacobson was an FBI investigator and Dana Lesemann a Justice Department attorney when they authored the explosive 28-page section, reports the New York Post.
In addition, the pair are believed to have uncovered more evidence linking the Saudi Embassy in Washington, the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles and the two terrorists.
They did so while working for the independent 9/11 Commission, from whose final report the most grave allegations against the Saudis were stricken.
This emerged in a July 30 court hearing in Manhattan as part of the federal lawsuit.
Sean Carter, an attorney for the plaintiffs, has branded the removal by ‘senior staff’ a ‘political matter’.
It is claimed investigators have linked the hijackers to ex-diplomat and religious cleric in Los Angeles Fahad al-Thumairy, and Omar al-Bayoumi, who was then a Saudi Arabian civil aviation authority employee in San Diego.
The lawsuit alleges the terrorists had financial support from the Saudi embassy and consulate and Bayoumi acted as a handler for them.
The pair entered the U.S. via Los Angeles and then took part on the attack on the Pentagon in Washington.
The judge now has 60 to 90 days to decide whether to accept Saudi arguments against Mr Jacobson and Mr Lesemann being called or to allow them to testify as the victims’ families want.