Congressman Stephen Lynch Calls for Full Release of Classified 9/11 Report
Congressman Stephen Lynch via Lynch’s office.
South Boston Congressman Stephen Lynch ripped the government officials for continuing to withold portions of a detailed report on the September 11th terrorist attacks that could reflect poorly on Saudi Arabia.
A day before the 14th anniversary of the attacks, Lynch told the Boston Herald that the failure to release 28 pages of the joint congressional report was “an embarrassment.”
Lynch and said that the report should be released in its entirety for the victims and their families because they deserve closure. Lynch is sponsoring a bill in the House that would make the unreleased 28 pages public. So far, he has lined up 16 co-sponsors in the House while current Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has thrown his support behind the effort. A similar effort in the Senate has the backing of three senators. Paul, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
A group of 9/11 families filed suit in 2002 to make the remaining documents in the report public but have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts. Part of their suit alleges that Saudi Arabia owes them compensation because they bankrolled the attacks and provided support for the hijackers while they lived in the United States. Many of them went to flight school to learn how to fly jetliners.
The Saudis have denied any involvement in the attacks and said that they are exempt from any kind of legal ruling in the United States.
In June, the CIA declassified the inspector general’s report on the security failings around 9/11, though significant portions of the report remain redacted.
James Kreindler, the attorney for the families involved in the lawsuit, told the Herald that he expected the suit to go on for a long time.
“That’s the nature of the beast here,” said Kriendler.
Lynch made similar comments in January.
