Nation/World

Biden directs federal agencies to declassify documents related to FBI investigation of 9/11 attacks

President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order that would require the review, declassification and release of classified government documents related to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In doing so, Biden said he was fulfilling a promise he had made while campaigning for president, in which he had vowed, if elected, to direct the U.S. attorney general to “personally examine the merits of all cases” where the government had invoked state secrets privilege and “to err on the side of disclosure in cases where, as here, the events in question occurred two decades or longer ago.”

“When I ran for president, I made a commitment to ensuring transparency regarding the declassification of documents on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “As we approach the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, I am honoring that commitment.”

The executive order directs the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to oversee a declassification review of documents related to the FBI’s Sept. 11 investigations. The order also requires the U.S. attorney general to release the declassified documents publicly over the next six months, Biden said.

Families of hundreds of 9/11 victims had told Biden last month that he would not be welcome at this year’s memorial events marking the 20th anniversary of the attacks unless he declassified government evidence beforehand that could link Saudi Arabia to the attack, according to a letter sent to the White House in August.

Shortly afterward, the Justice Department pledged to review evidence related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a move that an advocate for some of the families criticized as insufficient.

It was not clear if Biden’s executive order Friday would be satisfactory to the families that had demanded release of the documents. Representatives for some 9/11 families did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

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Biden has not yet made public his plans for the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

“My heart continues to be with the 9/11 families who are suffering, and my Administration will continue to engage respectfully with members of this community,” Biden said Friday. “I welcome their voices and insight as we chart a way forward.”

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The Washington Post’s Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.

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