According to a former FBI agent, at least two of the 11-11 kidnappers had a support network based in the United States.
Danny Gonzalez worked on “Operation Encore,” the still-secret investigation of the two Saudi kidnappers based in San Diego. Gonzalez told CBS News that he is confident records of this operation will show that the kidnappers had help.
“19 kidnappers cannot commit 3,000 mass murders by themselves,” Gonzalez told the network.
President Biden signed an executive order on Friday directing the Justice Department to oversee a declassification review of some documents related to the Sept. 11 attacks, following pressure from the families of victims who demanded to know whether the ‘Saudi Arabia helped the kidnappers. The DOJ must publish any declassified document within the next six months.
Some records belong to “Operation Encore,” which began two years after the commission’s report.
Gonzalez said the public would learn “a lot” if records of Operation Encore were released and that it would change the public understanding of 9/11.
Gonzalez said the two kidnappers – Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar – were aided by several Saudis, including Omar al-Bayoumi.
Bayoumi, who worked for the Saudi government, said he met the two kidnappers at random at a Los Angeles restaurant and encouraged them to move to San Diego. He helped them find apartments and open bank accounts. The two kidnappers even started the flight school nearby.
Gonzalez said he cannot disclose certain classified information about Operation Encore, according to FBI orders. Nor can another former agent, Ken Williams, who wrote a note before Sept. 11 warning that potential terrorists were taking flight lessons in Arizona.
“The evidence is there. I’ve seen it. But I can’t go into details because of the protection order, “Williams said. The two former agents now work for families as investigators.
“I can’t sit on the sidelines when I know the truth,” Gonzalez said.
9/11 families are suing Saudi Arabia, although the Saudis deny official participation and the 9/11 Commission report found no connection. The commission’s report also found Bayoumi to be an “unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement with Islamist extremists” and said “there was no credible evidence that he believed in violent extremism or extremist groups knowingly helping. of cause “.