9/11 families seek release of documents they say include Saudi Arabia's link to attack
Families of Sept. 11 victims asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to order the government to release documents they say tie the Saudi Arabian government to the plot to hijack airplanes and crash them into New York and D.C.
After 90 minutes of legal questioning over the fate of their lawsuit against the Saudi government, families of the 9/11 victims seemed hopeful that a panel of appellate judges would allow their case to move forward and to continue pursuing evidence about the Kingdom's role in the attacks.
"[The judges] were not buying what [Saudi Arabia] were selling," said Terry Strada, whose husband was killed in the attacks and who publicly called on the Trump administration last month to support their efforts. "This was a very good day for us."
The Saudis want the case thrown out, claiming they have immunity from civil litigation as a sovereign foreign government despite Congress enacting a law nearly a decade ago meant to grant victims of terrorism the opportunity to sue alleged state sponsors of terrorism.
The three-judge panel of appellate judges on Wednesday largely steered clear of the merits of the case -- whether the Saudi government supported hijackers who carried out attacks in Washington and New York -- and focused narrowly on dense jurisdictional matters.
The hearing in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York extended long past the allotted time for oral presentations.
If the judges rule in favor of the families, the case could proceed to trial as soon as next year and would open the door for the families to pursue more evidence that could cast light on the Kingdom's role in the attacks.
"Give us our trial ... we want our day in court,” Brett Eagleson, who lost his father on 9/11, said at a news conference following the hearing. "What you saw today is Saudi Arabia grasping at straws."
Both Eagleson and Strada reiterated past calls for the Trump administration to step in and "hold [the Saudi government] accountable” and to "put America first."
The judges took the matter under advisement. Lawyers involved in the case don't expect a ruling until early 2027.
With past presidents in attendance at this year’s 9/11 commemoration in New York, marking 25 years since the attacks, several family members openly faulted the U.S. government for keeping these materials secret.
"Administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families," Strada, the widow of 9/11 victim Tom Strada, said during the ceremony.
President Trump was not present at the New York commemoration and instead attended a commemoration ceremony at the Pentagon.
"President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history, which is why he authorized the declassification and release of hundreds of pages of documents related to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001," the White House said in a statement released the afternoon after the 9/11 commemoration in New York.
Evidence released so far as part of a lawsuit traces the activities of Omar al Bayoumi, a Saudi national who had been living in California. The families, citing FBI records released during the Biden administration, say he was a Saudi intelligence asset who assisted at least two of the hijackers. As ABC News previously reported, the families say Bayoumi aided those two hijackers by "finding them an apartment in his complex" and "providing funds just below the suspicious activity reporting threshold to help them open a bank account,” according to the families’ lawsuit.
Many of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals, according to the FBI, along with a few others from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon.
The Saudis have repeatedly denied having any role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks and said in court Wednesday that they remain "an ally of the United States [and] a sworn enemy of Al Qaeda."
The decision on whether to declassify additional 9/11 records ultimately lies with President Donald Trump, whose administration has touted government transparency.
A White House spokesperson told ABC News last month that "President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history, and his team is working diligently to identify records that are responsive to these families' request."
