Letter to John Ashcroft

September 15, 2003

The Honorable John Ashcroft
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:

It has come to my attention that American law enforcement officials have given up on interviewing key people who may have information regarding the September 11th attacks because of stonewalling by Saudi officials. I urge you to immediately reverse this tack and ensure that American investigators interview the families of the 9-11 hijackers in Saudi Arabia as well as other persons who may have special knowledge of the attacks and who currently reside in the Saudi kingdom.

As you are aware, standard operating procedure in criminal investigations requires that investigators talk to friends and families of the accused - especially if the accused is no longer living - as a way to discern a suspect's motive and to determine if there were others who aided or abetted the criminal action. I am dumbfounded that American agents working on the largest criminal investigation in American history would abandon standard procedure because of resistance by Saudi officials.

Given the sophisticated planning required for an operation of its scale and coordination, the 9-11 hijackers surely had help, both in this country and abroad, from accomplices who by all accounts remain at large and are free to organize more plots against Americans. Accordingly, there is a pressing need to reinvigorate our investigation into the September 11th attacks and far too much at stake to simply give up on interviewing family members of the 9-11 hijackers - a rich source of potential leads - because of interference by the Saudi Arabian government.

Saudi Arabian officials, including de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah and Ambassador Bandar, firmly assert that they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the War on Terror. Just yesterday, Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign affairs advisor to the
Crown Prince, claimed that anti-terror cooperation between our two nations is "unprecedented." Partners such as these would surely not deny us access to the very people who could hold the key to unlocking the continuing mystery that surrounds the September 11th attacks.

For the sake of our national security, I urge you to ensure that American officials do not give in to Saudi stonewalling. Our agents must leave no stone unturned in their investigation and do everything in their power to interview the families of the 9-11 hijackers now in Saudi Arabia.

Sincerely,

Charles Schumer
U.S. Senator