No Smoking Gun? Fmr. Saudi Amb Says Public Should See 9-11 Documents
President Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh on Wednesday amid growing tensions between the two countries as some U.S. lawmakers are backing a bill that would allow families of 9-11 victims to sue the Middle East kingdom.
Ambassador Robert Jordan, a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, discussed the classified 9/11 report and the importance of Saudi Arabia on FOX Business Network’s After the Bell.
The ambassador said he was originally told by the Central Intelligence Agency that he was on a “need-to-know” basis, and couldn’t see the 28 classified pages. But the CIA eventually sent a representative to Riyadh and allowed him to read the 28 pages.
“In my view there's not a smoking gun. I really can't get into anything classified, but what I would say is that there is information in there that the public needs to know,” Ambassador Jordan told host Melissa Francis. “I can’t imagine why this administration has refused to declassify these pages and my hope is that President Obama will announce the declassification during his visit to Riyadh.”
According to the ambassador, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is extremely important because both countries are jointly fighting terrorism. Saudi and U.S. intelligence continue to share information to fight against Al-Qaeda and ISIS, who have sworn to bring down the royal family.
“They are still in the crosshairs so we have that common interest. We have a common interest in a reliable supply of oil. We have a common interest in dealing with the Muslim world. And I think we have a common interest in an economic relationship. We just sold them $96 billion of military hardware,” he said.
As somebody with firsthand knowledge, does the ambassador believe the Saudi government or royal family had anything to do with financing 9-11?
“I'm convinced that the Saudi royal family at the senior level and the government at the senior level did not,” he said.