The 28 pages of 9/11 intelligence that were in a secret vault | 60 Minutes Archive
In a Nutshell
The 28 pages from the 2002 Joint Congressional Inquiry describe a Saudi government-connected support network—including diplomat Fahad al-Thumairy and alleged Saudi agent Omar al-Bayoumi—that provided housing, IDs, and other assistance to two future 9/11 hijackers in California. Multiple former commissioners and officials who reviewed the still-classified pages, including Bob Graham, Bob Kerrey, and John Lehman, argue they should be released because they contain leads about lower-level Saudi officials and institutions that were never fully pursued. The central takeaway is that declassifying these pages would clarify the extent of Saudi-linked assistance to the hijackers and challenge the 9/11 Commission’s carefully worded claim that no senior Saudi officials were involved.
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President Obama was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia in 10 days amid deep mistrust between the two allies and lingering doubts about Saudi commitment to fighting violent Islamic extremism. The White House and intelligence officials were reviewing whether to declassify one of the country's most sensitive documents known as the 28 pages. These pages relate to 9/11 and the possible existence of a Saudi support network for the hijackers while they were in the United States. For 13 years, the 28 pages have been locked away in a secret vault with only a small group of people having ever seen them.
Former US Senator Bob Graham believes it is implausible that 19 people, most of whom didn't speak English, most of whom had never been in the United States before, and many of whom didn't have a high school education, could have carried out such a complicated task without some support from within the United States. Graham considers the 28 pages a key part of understanding this support network.
Graham served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chair of the bipartisan joint congressional inquiry into intelligence failures surrounding the 9/11 attacks. The joint inquiry reviewed a half a million documents, interviewed hundreds of witnesses, and produced an 838-page report. The final chapter was blanked out and excised by the Bush administration for reasons of national security.
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