RIGHT SPEAK: 9/11 Families and Their Suit Against the Saudis: American Justice Tightens Its Noose; 25 Years Later, 9/11 Victims Hope Newly Uncovered Records Will Help Illuminate Saudis' Alleged Role

9/11 Families and Their Suit Against the Saudis:

American justice tightens its noose.

In a New York court, the civil suit brought against the Saudi government by 9/11 families is proceeding despite the Saudi claim of sovereign immunity. More on the lawsuit can be found here: “Families of 9/11 victims to pack NYC court as Saudi gov’t tries to dodge civil trial: ‘The Kingdom continues to lie,’” by Ben Kochman, New York Post, October 7, 2026:

A federal appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether Saudi Arabia can dodge a lawsuit alleging it aided the 9/11 hijackers — as relatives of New Yorkers killed in the attacks intently watch.

More than 25 years after the deadly terror attacks, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan is considering a lower court judge’s bombshell August 2025 ruling leaving Riyadh potentially on the hook for damages in the long-delayed civil case.

Appeals court judges Guido Calabresi, William Nardini and Eunice Lee will hear from lawyers for both Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 victims’ families.

The families have dug up “reasonable evidence” that the Saudi government — which continues to deny playing any role in the attacks on 9/11 — ran a support network for the hijackers, US District Court Judge George Daniels found.

A potential juror could make “a reasonable inference” that Omar al-Bayoumi, a shadowy Saudi national who helped secure California lodging for a pair of American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers, had coordinated with the Saudi government, the judge ruled.

Al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi spy, once hosted a “welcome party” for two hijackers, had flight calculations that could be used to fly a plane into targets and at one point was seen in a chilling video “casing” the US Capitol building, according to court filings….

Congress has passed a law making it easier to sue countries accused of complicity in terrorism. If that law is upheld, the Saudi claim that it cannot be sued because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity will fail. For 25 years, the Saudis have managed to escape American justice, but that may not continue much longer. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which Congress passed in 2016, allows victims to sue foreign governments for terrorist acts on U.S. soil. --->READ MORE HERE

ABC NEWS

25 years later, 9/11 victims hope newly uncovered records will help illuminate Saudis' alleged role

Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, a trove of newly obtained records is offering what families of the victims characterize in court as compelling evidence of deep Saudi complicity in the attacks. Now, as their decade-old lawsuit against the Saudi kingdom marches toward trial, the families are pressing the Trump administration to declassify more government records they believe could finally deliver justice.

The newly revealed records, from a lawsuit involving an alleged Saudi agent, include a video purportedly casing the Capitol two years before the attacks and a sketch that purportedly shows calculations for navigating a plane toward a target on the ground, which one family member called "smoking gun evidence."

The decision on whether to declassify additional records ultimately lies with President Donald Trump, whose administration has touted government transparency and who has personally signed executive orders declassifying records ranging from purported UFO sightings to high-profile assassinations.

"We've seen him do it for the [President John F. Kennedy] files. Why not the 9/11 files?" Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce was killed in the World Trade Center's South Tower, said in an interview with ABC News.

"Now is the moment, 25 years later, to finally bring resolution," Eagleson said, "and the man that sits in the Oval Office has a historic and a tremendous opportunity to do it."

Eagleson has enlisted the support of members of the New York congressional delegation to press the administration to release key records that include phone logs purportedly belonging to Omar al-Bayoumi, who the families allege is a Saudi intelligence asset, as well as two of the hijackers.

Among those who cosigned a letter seeking the declassification of those records is Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a Trump ally who is urging the president take up the matter before the 25th anniversary, less than two weeks away.

"This is probably one of the better shots that we have at getting this information out there," Malliotakis said. "And I think that hopefully we'll see this type of transparency coming from this administration."

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told ABC News, "President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history, and his team is working diligently to identify records that are responsive to these families' request."