On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the families of the people killed said they’d have enough. After 20 years, they were tired of getting the runaround when it came to getting documents released regarding the investigation into the Saudi role in relation to the hijackers.

Families even told Joe Biden they didn’t want him at the Ground Zero remembrance , unless he ordered the information released. So Biden ordered the release a week ago.

One of the family members shared with Catherine Herridge their effort. She also spoke to two former FBI agents involved in the investigation who said as much as they could, but one said obviously, there was a “domestic support network” who helped the hijackers in different ways.

SECRET FBI 9/11 Files: Newly declassified docs undercut long-standing claims to 9/11 Commission Saudi had chance meeting with two hijackers in LA before helping them settle in San Diego. Last week @CBSNews had 1st TV interview FBI agent “Operation Encore.”pic.twitter.com/iIWV4Z92Eq

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) September 12, 2021

Now, the first document came out last night, exactly 20 years after the attack.

The document details a 2015 interview with an official who worked at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, according to the Daily Mail, and helped two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on September 11. They were believed to be members of al-Qaeda, chosen by Osama bin Laden.

He admitted that he allowed two hijackers to use his apartment and helped them travel around LA. He was found to be an al-Qaeda ‘facilitator’ by the FBI and the Saudi Consul General wanted to fire him for distributing extremist Muslim literature.

He was also a close associate of two other Saudis, Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy, who the [sic] helped the hijackers.

The new FBI file reveals that al-Bayoumi, who has admitted befriending them, worked as a ‘ghost employee’ at a Saudi aviation firm in the US.

And it details how al-Thumairy gave the hijackers money, travel assistance and lodging.

The FBI memo said Omar al-Bayoumi was a frequent visitor to the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles despite his official status at the time as a student.
Mr Bayoumi, the source tells the FBI, had “very high status” at the consulate. “Bayoumi’s assistance to Hamzi and Midha included translation, travel, lodging and financing,” the memo said.

The FBI document also says there were links between the two hijackers and Fahad al-Thumairy, a conservative imam at the King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles. He was described by sources as “having extremist beliefs”.

Both Mr Bayoumi and Mr Thumairy left the US weeks before the 9/11 attacks, according to the AP news agency.

Saudi Arabia has continued to deny any involvement. Fifteen of the hijackers were Saudi nationals.