Trump Declassifies Bombshell 9/11 Documents

Newly declassified intelligence records are renewing scrutiny of how the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations handled warnings about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Trump administration released dozens of Presidential Daily Briefs as the country marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The documents show intelligence officials had been tracking possible hijackings, threats against Washington and reports that Al Qaeda operatives were already inside the United States.

One briefing prepared for President Bill Clinton on Dec. 4, 1998, was titled, “Bin Ladin [sic] Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft.” The document stated, “Some members of the Bin Ladin network have received hijack training, according to various sources. Bin Ladin could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft.”

The briefing also warned that bin Laden might move quickly, saying he “might implement plans to hijack a US aircraft before the beginning of Ramadan on 20 December.” It added that two suspected members of an operational team had reportedly avoided security checks during a trial run at an unidentified New York airport.

Another September 1998 briefing warned that bin Laden preferred to attack the United States on American soil. Intelligence included a report that the same organization linked to the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania might attempt to fly an aircraft packed with explosives into an American city.

Not every warning carried the same level of credibility. A July briefing acknowledged that intelligence officials had received several reports from sources they considered highly questionable claiming bin Laden was planning an attack inside the United States.

By February 2000, officials were examining possible symbolic targets, including the Statue of Liberty.

Warnings continued after George W. Bush took office. Among the newly released material was the August 2001 Presidential Daily Brief titled, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US,” a document that later became central to investigations into the government’s handling of intelligence before 9/11.

That briefing said Al Qaeda members, including some U.S. citizens, had lived in or traveled through the United States for years and that the organization appeared to have a support network capable of assisting attacks.

Another section described suspicious activity authorities believed could be connected to preparations for terrorism.

“After US missile strikes on his base in Afghanistan in 1998, Bin Ladin told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington,” the document stated. It also said the FBI had identified “patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks,” including surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

The records do not show that officials knew the specific targets, timing or operational details of the Sept. 11 attacks. Some intelligence reports were also accompanied by warnings from analysts questioning the reliability of their sources.

Other documents show intelligence agencies were investigating reports that bin Laden wanted access to chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. A February 1999 assessment warned that if he obtained a chemical or biological weapon, his previous conduct suggested “he would have no reservations about using it.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said he authorized the release of 71 Presidential Daily Briefs to honor those killed on Sept. 11. The disclosures have revived long-running questions about whether federal officials adequately recognized and connected the warning signs before nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Condoleezza Rice, who served as Bush’s national security adviser at the time, also reflected publicly on the government’s failure to identify the threat soon enough. “Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11,” Rice said.

She added, “I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured.” The newly released documents do not establish that Clinton or Bush knew the Sept. 11 plot in advance. They do, however, show that concerns involving bin Laden, aircraft hijackings and possible attacks inside the United States had reached senior levels of the federal government years before the attacks.