U.S. Signals It Will Release Some Still-Secret Files on Saudi Arabia and 9/11

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, nether unit from families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, said connected Monday that it intended to disclose immoderate long-classified documents that the families deliberation could item connections betwixt the authorities of Saudi Arabia and the hijackers who carried retired the attacks.

In a tribunal filing successful long-running litigation brought by the victims’ families against Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department said that the F.B.I. “recently” closed a information of its probe into the violent attacks and was opening a reappraisal of documents that it had antecedently said indispensable stay concealed with an oculus toward disclosing much of them.

“The F.B.I. has decided to reappraisal its anterior privilege assertions to place further accusation due for disclosure,” the section said successful a letter to 2 national judges successful Manhattan overseeing the case. “The F.B.I. volition disclose specified accusation connected a rolling ground arsenic expeditiously arsenic possible.”

The determination came aft a radical representing much than 1,600 radical straight affected by the attacks called past week for President Biden to not enactment successful immoderate memorial events for the 20th day of the attacks adjacent period unless helium fulfilled a run committedness to reappraisal the documents for imaginable declassification and release.

After the filing, the White House issued a connection from Mr. Biden expressing sympathy for the household members and invoking a 2009 policy, issued erstwhile helium was vice president, that imposed limits connected erstwhile the authorities whitethorn asseverate the authorities secrets privilege to artifact the disclosure of grounds successful lawsuits for nationalist information reasons.

“As I promised during my campaign, my medication is committed to ensuring the maximum grade of transparency nether the law, and to adhering to the rigorous guidance issued during the Obama-Biden medication connected the invocation of the authorities secrets privilege,” Mr. Biden said.

He added, “In this vein, I invited the Department of Justice’s filing today, which commits to conducting a caller reappraisal of documents wherever the authorities has antecedently asserted privileges, and to doing truthful arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.”

In a missive sent to a typical of the families earlier the statesmanlike predetermination past fall, Mr. Biden had said helium would nonstop his lawyer wide to “examine the merits of each cases wherever the invocation of privilege is recommended, and to err connected the broadside of disclosure successful cases where, arsenic here, the events successful question occurred 2 decades oregon longer ago.”

Mr. Biden had referred to a Trump-era decision that kept the documents classified connected the grounds that they contained authorities secrets, and said his ain medication would “work constructively connected specified cases.”

Nearly 3,000 radical died successful the attacks connected Sept. 11, 2001. The organizers of the statement past week calling for Mr. Biden to merchandise the documents said they were unsure however galore victims were represented by its much than 1,600 signatures. Each sanction belongs to either a adjacent comparative of idiosyncratic whose decease was caused by the attacks, a idiosyncratic who became severely sick arsenic a effect of them oregon a survivor, they said.

The Biden administration’s determination to reappraisal the classified documents was the latest improvement successful a astir two-decade odyssey for immoderate of the families. They person pushed 4 American presidents, with small success, to merchandise much accusation astir Saudi engagement successful financing the attacks.

The 9/11 Commission recovered “no grounds that the Saudi authorities arsenic an instauration oregon elder Saudi officials individually funded” Al Qaeda, which carried retired the attacks. But the commission’s phrasing near immoderate to speculate that determination mightiness beryllium grounds of engagement by other, lower-ranking officials.

An probe past twelvemonth by The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica recovered that F.B.I. agents, who secretly investigated Saudi connections to the Sept. 11 attacks for much than a decade, had discovered circumstantial evidence of specified enactment but nary smoking gun.

The families were stunned successful 2019 erstwhile William P. Barr, who was the lawyer wide nether President Donald J. Trump astatine the time, declared successful a connection to a national court that documents relating to the attacks should enactment classified to support nationalist security.

On Friday, Jen Psaki, the White House property secretary, said that White House officials had met successful caller weeks with groups representing families of victims, and that the papers requests would “continue to beryllium a priority” for Mr. Biden.

In the connection past week, the families radical said that it could not “in bully faith, and with veneration to those lost, sick and injured,” invited Mr. Biden to the commemorations adjacent period if helium did not travel done connected his run promise.

“It’s 20 years; this has gone connected for excessively long,” Brett Eagleson, who was a 15-year-old sophomore successful precocious schoolhouse erstwhile his father, Bruce, died astatine the World Trade Center, said successful an interrogation past week. “If you’re not going to merchandise the documents and you’re going to proceed with the process of covering up the Saudi relation successful 9/11, we’ll person to entity to you coming.”

Mr. Eagleson, who is present 35 and works successful banking, said that seeing the documents mightiness connection him and different victims’ relatives immoderate long-overdue closure.

He said connected Monday that the F.B.I.’s reappraisal was a measurement successful the close direction, but that it was not capable to assuage families’ anxieties astir the documents.

“It sounds similar it’s promising, but let’s spot what they really produce,” helium said.

Mr. Eagleson is among the thousands of victims’ relatives who accused Saudi Arabia successful a 2017 suit of complicity successful the attacks. They had successfully fought for years for the close to sue, gaining it successful 2016 erstwhile Congress overrode a veto by President Barack Obama to walk into instrumentality a measure allowing specified a lawsuit.

The suit has languished successful the courts arsenic lawyers for the kingdom fought it. On Friday, James P. Kreindler, 1 of the lawyers representing the families, said that 20 Saudi officials were precocious questioned nether oath, and added that a justice would determine adjacent twelvemonth whether the lawsuit advances.

Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting.