By Derrick Broze

Families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks have filed subpoenas against the FBI in an attempt to learn more about the Saudi Kingdom’s support for the event.

Bruce Eagleson died on September 11, 2001 in lower Manhattan during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. His son Brett was fifteen years old at the time. On Monday, 17 years later, Brett Eagleson held a press conference announcing that his family had subpoenaed the Federal Bureau of Investigations for records related to the attacks. Eagleson is demanding the FBI release unredacted reports, letters, email, transcripts of closed hearings and other documents as part of the civil lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Eagleson was joined by Senator Richard Blumenthal at the press conference. Blumenthal also called for the release of documents and witness testimony from the Saudi government, the Saudi High Commission, and U.S. government agencies. “Make no mistake — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia probably sponsored the attack,” he said. “And now the United States government is trying to shield them from embarrassment.”

Brett Eagleson admonished the U.S. government for getting in the way of the 9/11 families. “We don’t want our government’s support,” Eagleson said at the press conference. “We just want our government to untie our hands. Let us fight our fight.” Eagleson called the federal government’s treatment of the families “extremely painful.” He also stated that they family plans to file subpoenas to the State Department, Treasury Department and the CIA.

The families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks have long sought to hold members of the Saudi royal family accountable for what they say amounts to funding and harboring terrorists. In late March, after years of anguish and waiting, the family members’ struggle moved one step closer to reality after a U.S. judge rejected Saudi Arabia’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuits.

“U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said the plaintiffs’ allegations ‘narrowly articulate a reasonable basis’ for him to assert jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a 2016 federal law,” Reuters reported about the decision.

Saudi officials continue to deny any involvement in the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The Kingdom has traditionally been immune from these type of lawsuits, but that changed in September 2016 when the U.S. Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a law that allows victims of terrorism to file lawsuits against foreign nations. The 9/11 families have fought for years to sue the Saudi Kingdom to reveal more details about the role the nation played in the 2001 terror attacks. The Saudi government has opposed JASTA since its inception, at one point threatening to liquidate millions of dollars in U.S. assets.

In March 2017, Activist Post reported that the 9/11 Families and Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to investigate the connection between over 100 Saudi lobbyists, U.S. veterans, and the Trump International hotel. The group, which represents an estimated 6,500 families of 9/11 victims, called on the Department of Justice to investigate a foreign influence campaign by Saudi Arabia which sought to convince veterans to fight against a recently passed law that allows for lawsuits against the Saudi kingdom in relation to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Yahoo! News reports that lawyers representing the 9/11 families are accusing Saudi operatives of deceiving hundreds of veterans into lobbying against the bill by warning them that they may be susceptible to lawsuits in foreign countries for their role in military conflicts. The group of over 300 veterans was flown to Washington D.C. and treated to meals and discussion about the fate of JASTA. Veterans were not notified that the financiers of their trip were representatives of the Saudi Kingdom.

In addition, during a recent hearing for the lawsuits against Saudi Arabia, a former FBI agent called attention to the involvement of the Saudi Kingdom. In a six-page statement provided as part of the lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, retired FBI agent Stephen K. Moore says the 9/11 Commission has provided the American public with incorrect statements regarding the FBI’s investigation. Moore is a 25-year veteran of the FBI who retired in 2008. He also led the FBI’s PENTTBOM, or “Pentagon/Twin Towers Bombing Investigation,” a 400-member task force responsible for investigating the 9/11 attacks. Specifically, Moore disputed statements made by the 9/11 Commission regarding the FBI’s investigation into two Saudi hijackers – Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, two of the five men accused of crashing American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Moore’s statements deal with Hazmi and al-Mihdhar’s connection to Saudi diplomat Fahad al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bayoumi. Thumairy was an imam at a Los Angeles mosque with extreme views, while Bayoumi was a suspected agent of the Saudi government posing as a student.