WASHINGTON — CIA Chief John Brennan on Sunday defended the classification of secret 9/11 congressional documents because their investigative findings were preliminary and “not deemed to be accurate.”
Pressure is mounting on the Obama administration to release 28 classified pages from a congressional inquiry that allegedly implicate Saudi Arabia in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Brennan told “Meet the Press” the congressional findings weren’t finalized and just teed up issues that were “thoroughly investigated and reviewed” by the 9/11 Commission in the months after the attacks.
That panel “came out with a very clear judgment that there was no evidence that indicated that the Saudi government as an institution, or Saudi officials individually, had provided financial support to al Qaeda,” Brennan said.
Brennan expressed concern that some may seize on information from the 28 pages “that was not corroborated, not vetted and not deemed to be accurate.”
Saudi leaders have denied any responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
The White House is weighing whether to release some of the findings.
One of the authors of the 28 pages has been publicly pressuring the administration. Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham says the pages point a strong finger at Saudi Arabia as a chief financier of the attacks and he has accused the Obama White House of covering up the truth.
“All the evidence points to Saudi Arabia,” Graham told “Meet the Press” in April. “We know that Saudi Arabia started al Qaeda.”
Advocates and 9/11 victims believe keeping the pages classified protects state sponsors of terrorism from being held accountable and undercuts families seeking justice in the courtroom.
Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Schumer and others are pushing legislation in Congress that would allow 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for monetary damages. The White House has threatened to veto the legislation because it could expose the United States to foreign lawsuits, including those from drone attack victims.
