(NewsNation) — Family members of victims of the September 11 attacks are pushing the Trump administration to declassify more information related to a Saudi national who they allege was a part of the planning of the hijackings and are calling for him to be extradited to the U.S and charged.
At a news conference Monday, they highlighted evidence shown publicly for the first time Sunday evening to buttress their case. Their push is centered on Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who shot video of various locations in Washington, including himself in front of the Capitol, in 2000.
The families say it was a scouting video, while Saudi officials maintain that it was a tourist video. Al-Bayoumi is a central part of the families’ case as they try to link the Saudi government to the attacks. The FBI, in documents declassified in 2022, said al-Bayoumi was an agent of the Saudi intelligence service.
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The evidence, discovered in his U.K. apartment 10 days after the attacks, is now on exhibit in a civil trial. The families sued the Saudi government, alleging it was complicit in the hijacking plot. British intelligence found the evidence in the apartment and handed it over to the FBI.
“The evidence is now indisputable, do something,” Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, said on “NewsNation Now” on Monday.
Eagleson also called on FBI Director Kash Patel to keep his promise of releasing all the 9/11 files and called for President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to bring al-Bayoumi back after their visit to Saudi Arabia.
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Former FBI and other government counterterrorism officials investigating the 9/11 attacks and al-Qaida say they did not know the recovered al-Bayoumi evidence, first shown Sunday on “60 Minutes,” existed. Al-Bayoumi lived in San Diego in 2000 and aided two of the hijackers to get settled there after they had been living in Los Angeles.
The Saudi government has previously denied it had any role in the 9/11 attacks and has pushed for the civil lawsuit to be dismissed. NewsNation has reached out to the Justice Department and FBI for comment relating to the families’ push for more declassification.
