Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.) has been a leading proponent of declassifying 28 pages of a 2002 congressional report that may, or may not, implicate Saudi Arabian nationals in the plot to carryout the 9/11 attacks. The redacted pages of the 838-page report have, for years, stoked conspiracy theories, and more legitimate ones, of potential Saudi involvement in the attack. On Sunday, 60 Minutes reported on the ongoing efforts to get these redacted pages made public, potentially adding momentum to what appears to be the Obama administration’s intention to release the pages. On Tuesday, Graham said the White House told him personally a decision on declassification was only months away.
Graham, co-chairman of the congressional commission that investigated and wrote the report, told the Tampa Bay Times Tuesday that the Obama administration reached out to him and informed him a declassification review of the 28 pages is underway.
Graham told the Tampa Bay Times that Brett Holmgren, a senior policy adviser to the assistant to the president for Homeland Security, told him the declassification review of the documents withheld from a report issued by a Joint Congressional Commission in 2003 will soon be completed. Graham, who asked the president to declassify the records more than two years ago, said he asked how soon he could expect a decision and was told “one or two months.” Graham was co-chairman of a joint congressional committee that investigated the attacks.
For a full refresher on why the 28 pages are missing from the report and what that might mean, check out this thorough explainer from Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley.
*The headline of this post has been updated to clarify the decision on whether to declassify the documents is expected within months, not necessarily the actual declassification itself.
