9/11 families urge inspector general to probe FBI handling of videotape evidence

Fed-up 9/11 families pushing the Biden administration for access to hidden documents on alleged Saudi links to the terror attacks are accusing the FBI of “incompetence” or worse.

A letter sent to the U.S. Inspector General overseeing the Department of Justice demands an immediate investigation into missing evidence.

The 9/11 families — made up of thousands who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks or suffered from the toxic fallout from the toppling of the Twin Towers — want the DOJ to unseal all they know of any links back to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The families state, in the letter shared with the Herald: “We, the undersigned 9/11 Families, present this Complaint to request that the Inspector General investigate the FBI’s statements made in response to our subpoena in the 9/11 litigation that the FBI ‘lost’ or is simply no longer able to find key evidence about the individuals who provided substantial support inside the U.S. to the 9/11 hijackers.”

The key issue is videotape evidence.

The letter to the IG states: “The FBI lost, hid, or destroyed a key videotape showing a Saudi agent, Omar al Bayoumi, hosting a party in San Diego for two 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar shortly after their arrival in the U.S. Hazmi and Mihdhar were known al Qaeda operatives and the first of the 9/11 hijackers to arrive in the U.S. The FBI’s claims that it cannot locate this key piece of evidence must be investigated.”

The FBI did not immediately return a request for comment from the Herald.

Brett Eagleson, one of the leaders of the 9/11 families who lost his dad in the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, said Thursday the lack of support from President Biden and his DOJ is maddening.

“We are shocked, frustrated and appalled,” Eagleson, who lives in Connecticut, said. “How can you be doing this to us? How does the FBI not have 300 copies of that tape? It should be stored next to the Constitution.”

As the Herald has reported, the 9/11 families are telling the president to stay away from 20th-anniversary events at Ground Zero unless he backs their push to expose suspected Saudi links to the terror attacks.

Some U.S. Senators also joined the 9/11 families last month in blasting the DOJ and FBI for “kowtowing” to Saudi Arabia when they introduced the September 11th Transparency Act of 2021 — bipartisan legislation to improve access to federal 9/11 investigations.

Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on the Biden administration to finally expose Saudi connections to 9/11 hijackers.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3DEFr4e