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''The 28 pages'' refers to the final section of the December 2002 report of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, conducted by the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
and the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
. This section is titled "Part IV: Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters," and summarizes investigative leads describing financial, logistical and other support provided to the hijackers and their associates by
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
n officials and others suspected of being Saudi agents. It was declassified on July 15, 2016.


Contents

] The 28 pages state that some of the Hijackers in the September 11 attacks, 9/11 hijackers received financial support from individuals connected to the Saudi government.Declassified version of 28 pages
". ''
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence''. December 2002. Accessed on July 15, 2016.
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
sources believed that at least two of those individuals were officers in the
General Intelligence Presidency The General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) ( ) is the primary intelligence agency of Saudi Arabia. Structure The highest authority for GIP is the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman. In accordance with Article 60 of the Basic Law, he has the aut ...
, the primary intelligence agency of Saudi Arabia. The
United States Intelligence Community The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...
believed that individuals associated with the Saudi government had ties to
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
. Plaintiffs in a 9/11 civil suit against Saudi Arabia have alleged that a November 1999 attempt by two men with longstanding ties to the Saudi government—Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalawi—to get inside an
America West Airlines America West Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1981 until it merged with US Airways in 2007. It was headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. Its main hub was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, with secondary hubs ...
plane's cockpit was "a dry run for the 9/11 attacks." The FBI confirmed that the
Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. () is the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's main and largest diplomatic mission to the United States. It is located at 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW/Jamal Khashoggi Way, Washington, D.C., in ...
paid for Qudhaeein and Shalawi's tickets to board that flight. The 28 pages quoted a document from the FBI's Phoenix Field Office as stating: "Phoenix FBI now believes both men were specifically attempting to test the security procedures of America West Airlines in preparation for and in furtherance of UBL /nowiki>Osama bin Laden">Osama_bin_Laden.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Osama bin Laden">/nowiki>Osama bin Laden/nowiki>/Al-Qaeda">Al Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
operations." A report in the ''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' from November 30, 1999, said that "Language analysis doctoral student Muhammad Al-Qudhaieen" and a friend were considering suing the FBI for alleged ethnic discrimination over having been handcuffed in front of fellow passengers 11 days earlier, November 19, 1999, during an "aircraft inspection" in Columbus, Ohio. (This newspaper report documents the date of the incident and the airport used for the emergency landing.) Some leaked information from CIA and FBI documents alleges that there is "incontrovertible evidence" that Saudi government officials, including from the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles, gave the hijackers both financial and logistical aid. Among those named were then-Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar and Osama Bassnan, a Saudi agent, as well as American
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
cleric
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki (; April 21 or 22, 1971September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated Drone strikes in Yemen, in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was th ...
, 9/11 ringleader
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Atta (1 September 196811 September 2001) was an Egyptian terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist, he was the ringleader of the September 11 attacks and served as the Aircraft hijacking, hijacker-pi ...
, and Esam Ghazzawi, a Saudi adviser to the nephew of
King Fahd Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 1 ...
.


Classification decision

When the congressional joint inquiry report was published in July 2003, the 28-page section on possible Saudi links to the attacks was completely redacted at the insistence of the
George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...
. President Bush claimed that releasing the material would "reveal sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror."


Movement to declassify the pages

In July 2003, Senator
Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...
pressed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to release the material, in accordance with its authority under Senate Resolution 400, which established the Committee in 1976. However, the committee did not vote, and his request was merely denied. Then-chair Senator
Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of R ...
and Senator
Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is an American retired politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Vir ...
wrote Graham that "it is our view that release of additional information from Part Four could adversely affect ongoing counterterrorism efforts." Graham later said the response showed that the Intelligence Committee had shown "a strong deference to the executive branch." In the same month, Senator
Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...
(R-Kan.) joined approximately 42 Democratic senators in calling on President Bush to release the 28-page section which was censored for "national security reasons". Senator Graham stated the refusal "is a continuation of the pattern of the last seven months—a pattern of delay and excessive use of national security standards to deny the people the knowledge of their vulnerability." Members of Congress periodically tried to effect the declassification of the 28 pages. In 2013, Representatives Walter B. Jones, Jr. and Stephen Lynch introduced a resolution urging President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
to declassify the pages; Representatives Jones, Lynch and Massie introduced a similar resolution in 2015, which amassed 71 cosponsors. In the same year, Senator
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
introduced a bill to compel Obama to release the pages, and Senators
Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden ( ; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United States Senate special el ...
and
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
joined as cosponsors. In 2015, the U.S. government released a 9/11 Commission document, compiled by Dana Lesemann and Michael Jacobson, known as "Document 17." It was an overview of individuals of interest to investigators pursuing potential links to the Saudi government. Among dozens of named individuals are Fahad al-Thumairy,
Omar al-Bayoumi Omar al-Bayoumi () is a Saudi Arabia, Saudi national with alleged links to two of the September 11 attacks, 9/11 hijackers in the United States, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. There are conflicting views of al-Bayoumi's role. The 9/11 Commi ...
, Osama Bassnan and Mohdhar Abdullah. Document 17 was first brought to public attention on April 19, 2016, on the website 28Pages.org. According to then-former Senator Bob Graham, "Much of the information upon which File 17 was written was based on what's in the 28 pages." In April 2016, ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' aired a segment on the drive to declassify the 28 pages, featuring interviews with former Senator Graham, former Congressman and 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer, and former 9/11 Commission member John Lehman, as well as attorneys representing 9/11 family members, survivors, and insurers. On the afternoon before the ''60 Minutes'' segment aired, House Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
issued a statement urging the release of the pages. The Saudi government voiced support for the declassification of the 28 pages, saying it would "allow us to respond to any allegations in a clear and credible manner". Congressman Stephen Lynch said, "I think there may be some duplicity on the part of the Saudis in terms of them desiring this to be disclosed." In July 2016, during the
2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United Sta ...
, a proposed plank supporting the declassification of the 28 pages advanced from the national security subcommittee of the convention's platform committee. A motion to kill the plank was approved by the subsequent meeting of the full committee Steve Yates led the successful effort to remove the plank.


Declassification

In 2016, following a declassification review, the
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
approved the declassification of the partially redacted 28 pages, the joint inquiry's only wholly classified section. The document was then sent to congressional leadership and on July 15, 2016, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence approved publication of the newly declassified section. This declassification followed years of lobbying by families of those killed in the September 11 attacks, insurance companies and others. One influential figure in this effort was
Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...
, who was a member of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 as a senator from Florida. Among other things, he said, "the F.B.I. has gone beyond just covering up ... into what I call aggressive deception.". In addition to the events documented in "the 28 pages", US federal government agencies seem to have had three other apparently independent sources of advance warning of the September 11 attacks that were not reported to the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. One was a Saudi family in Sarasota, Florida, which was known by the FBI to have had multiple contacts with the hijackers-to-be training nearby, until the family fled just before the attacks. Another was the Able Danger data mining operation, which reportedly identified two of the three terrorist cells, who subsequently executed the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. A third was an Iranian expatriate, who had warned the FBI multiple times of the impending September 11 attacks. Sibel Edmonds was reportedly fired for insisting that the evidence they had not be suppressed as she says it was.


Location of the 28 pages

The document is kept in a sensitive compartmented information facility ( SCIF) in the basement of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.


See also

* Sibel Edmonds, who was a translator for the FBI from late September 2001 until March 2002. She said that in that capacity she saw documentation of advanced warnings of the September 11 attacks that were completely independent of "The 28 pages", which FBI personnel were ordered to cover up. * Able Danger *
Alleged Saudi government role in the September 11 attacks Since the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, allegations of Saudi Arabia, Saudi government involvement in the attacks have been made, with Saudi Arabia regularly denying such claims. The ''9/11 Commission Report'', issued by the ...
* 9/11 conspiracy theories


References


External links

*
Declassified version of 28 pages as published on house.gov (from archive.org)
, the ''
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence''. December 2002. Accessed on July 18, 2018. * For a searchable version:
28pages.org: An information & activism hub for the growing movement to declassify 28 pages on foreign government ties to 9/11
{{DEFAULTSORT:28 Pages Reports of the United States government Proceedings surrounding the September 11 attacks United States government secrecy Saudi Arabia–United States relations