Tag Archives: 9/11 report

Reality Check

Reality Check: Could 9/11 Victim Families Actually Sue Saudi Arabia?

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Last week a U.S. District court judge rejected a request by Saudi Arabia to dismiss lawsuits accusing the nation of being involved in the 9/11 attacks.

So what does this mean for the families of 9/11 victims?

Does this mean that Saudi Arabia’s immunity in the case has run out? And will the public finally get to read the 28 pages of the 9/11 report without redactions?

Let’s give it a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.

Families of 9/11 victims will get the chance to try to prove that Saudi Arabia is liable for helping to fund 9/11 hijackers. That, according to a ruling by a district court judge last week.

According to U.S. District Judge George Daniels, the plaintiffs’ allegations of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11 “narrowly articulate a reasonable basis” for him to assert jurisdiction under JASTA.

JASTA, or the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, provides a legal exemption to the principle of sovereign immunity, thus allowing foreign governments to be held liable in U.S. courts.

This is a big deal because, until now, Saudi Arabia had broad-based immunity from 9/11-related lawsuits in the United States.

In 2016, then-President Obama attempted to veto JASTA, claiming that it “could expose U.S. companies, troops and officials to lawsuits in other countries,” according to Reuters. But the Senate overrode the veto by an overwhelming margin to adopt the legislation.

From Reuters: “Daniels’ decision covers claims by the families of those killed, roughly 25,000 people who suffered injuries, and many businesses and insurers.”

While the current lawsuit is moving forward, it is not the only fear the Saudis have over 9/11. The Saudi government also is reportedly worried about the possibility of the release of the un-redacted “28 pages” which have long kept secrets about the alleged connection between the Saudis and 9/11.

So what are the 28 pages?

They are 28 pages of the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11 report that had been classified, until a redacted version was declassified 2016.

Yet, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and the heads of the Congressional Joint Inquiry, have indicated that if the redactions of those 28 pages were made available to the public, it would completely change everything you think you know about the 9/11 attacks.

The implications revealed so far in the redacted 28 pages are deeply concerning. According to page 424 of the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, the FBI received “numerous” reports from individuals who believed Omar al-Bayoumi, the man who co-signed an apartment lease in San Diego for two of the 9/11 hijackers, was a Saudi intelligence officer.

It also reads that Al-Bayoumi also introduced the two hijackers to a translator in San Diego, who helped them get driver licenses and locate flight schools.

We also know that, according to the Miami Herald, FBI records released in 2013 show a Saudi family living in Florida directly tied to the Saudi Royal Family, had “many connections” to two other 9/11 hijackers and then fled the country in a “sudden departure” only days before the attacks, leaving valuables and personal effects behind as if they left at a moment’s notice.

Additionally, according to the New York Post, leaked information from the redacted 28 pages, details a transfer of “some 130 thousand dollars from then Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar’s family checking account to yet another one of the [9/11] hijacker’s Saudi handlers in San Diego.”

What you need to know is that the lawsuit against the Saudis may still be blocked… that’s because, a last-minute amendment was inserted into the JASTA legislation called the “Stay of Actions Pending State Negotiations,” which allows the U.S. attorney general or secretary of state to simply “certify” that the U.S. is “engaged in good-faith discussions with the foreign-state defendant concerning the resolution of claims against the foreign state.”

And even though Candidate Trump had said that he would consider releasing the un-redacted 28 pages of the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, based on how close he is with the Saudis, that is not likely to actually happen, as much as the families of 9/11 victims deserve to know the truth.

That’s Reality Check, let’s talk about it right now on Facebook and Twitter.

Liberty Report

Ron Paul: Will Victims, Suspects Of Deadly Waco Biker Rally Receive Justice?

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Circumstances surrounding the deadly Waco biker rally remain unclear, and local police are shielding details of the incident from the public.

“This just builds up more suspicion on our government,” Ron Paul said during his latest Liberty Report.

The three-time presidential candidate and former Texas Representative Paul raised concerns about the ever-growing number of questions about the biker rally shooting, including why the Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved, what evidence the Waco Police Department gathered from the incident, how the shooting got started, the number of weapons on the scene, and who shot whom.

Nearly 1,000 bikers rallied in Waco this past weekend in support of the biker rally shooting victims—nine individuals died as a result of gunshot wounds—and the 143 bikers who remain behind bars without charge.

The Waco Police Department’s decision not to release any information about the incident or evidence collected from the scene harkened to the redacted 28 pages of the 9/11 Joint Congressional Inquiry report, Paul said.

“This seems like wholesale injustice,” Paul said. “My suspicion is they have a lot of evidence.”

Paul also addressed the issue of proportionality in the way police respond to public disturbances. Proportionality, as it is considered in just war theory, “should be considered here,” he said.

“There is disturbance of peaceful operations and there’s a responsibility to check into it. But to end up with a bunch of people getting killed, and then all of a sudden arresting all of these people? They could have taken their names and addresses down or something like that. They could probably review a camera pretty quickly, say, within an hour or two they will decide who might have been more involved.”

Another recent incident exemplifying the need for proportionality also comes out of Texas. Video shows aggressive police response at a disturbance call to a pool party in McKinney had “no proportionality that we saw,” Paul said. He noted, “We would get a little rowdy as kids but we never dealt with that.”

Watch the full episode above and check out more episodes of the Ron Paul Liberty Report here at Truth In Media.

In case you missed Ben Swann’s Truth In Media episode on ISIS watch it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Featured, Opinion

6 Stories The Media Beat to Death in 2014 That Have Faded Into Obscurity

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In a digital world the media often struggles to maintain the attention of its audience. Between horrific mass killings, viral outbreaks, violent authority figures, terrorists, and tantalizing political melodrama, the focus of our media shifts constantly.

The following six topics from 2014 were once a major focus of the fleeting attention of the media. Each of them at one point has received overwhelming media attention to become a fixture of American dialogue before fading into obscurity.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Questions remain as to how and where Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 came to its unfortunate end. Two-hundred and thirty nine people were never heard from again after contact was lost with the aircraft in March 2014. Efforts to find the aircraft have not been exhausted as the search continues, but the national media’s unrelenting attention did little to provide substantive insight into the unsolved tragedy.

Since the airliner crashed in March, 24-hour news networks have shifted focus from sensationalized speculation to passive, intermittent reporting.

Israel-Palestine Conflict
Israeli aerial bombings, Operation Protective Edge, of Palestinian-controlled Gaza during the summer of 2014 overshadowed most television news coverage at the end of July and early August.

Since the operations, tensions remain high in the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas. Little, if any progress has been made, but the 24-hour news cycle has moved on to greener pastures.

Campaign Finance Laws
The 2014 midterm election was the most expensive midterm election in American history — totaling $3.67 billion. In part due to the Supreme Court’s April decision on McCutcheon v. FEC which increased the aggregate donation limits to candidates. Coverage of the decision’s possible effect of the decision on the political process remained peripheral throughout the course of the election season. Still, even after a report by the Center for Responsive Politics detailed the final cost, media attention remained elsewhere.

“Bridgegate”
In January 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie became the subject of a firestorm of media attention after allegations that political retribution affected the lives of NJ and NY citizens due to bridge closures and traffic congestion on the Washington Bridge. What became known as ‘Bridgegate’ was believed to be an act of revenge against elected officials that did not officially support Christie’s campaign. A probe into the incident has been conducted for months with no end in sight, but national attention has shifted following the end of the midterm election season.

Government Surveillance
Thrust into the American zeitgeist following Snowden’s release of classified documents, government monitoring and mass intelligence gathering became a controversial focus of media attention and public opinion. But, media attention on the subject has remained reactive and sparse.

For instance, at the beginning of 2014, a report addressed dealings between Internet providers and intelligence agencies over use of customer data. Coverage of government surveillance programs following these negotiations have been limited. In November, Congress blocked a bill that would reform information gathering programs used by the NSA. Yet, during the same period, the media and the nation remained focused on the decision of a St. Louis grand jury.

9/11 Report

The potential release of 28 pages of the 9/11 report received limited focus following the shooting death of Michael Brown. The report would implicate the Saudi government in having a larger role in the attack than previously expressed but the report received less attention than more sensational events.

The overall purpose of the media is to direct the audience’s focus and keep it. In an effort to do so, the media must constantly develop stories and shift focuses to meet the demands of their audience. But a danger exists; with so many sources of information constantly vying for our attention, how do we know that information we receive is anything but entertainment?

Opinion

Congressman Mark Sanford is a man of his word

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Congressman Mark Sanford is a man of his word.

Sanford has an impeccable voting record.  As a Republican in S.C., he is not afraid to promote the libertarian philosophy of low taxes, less government and individual freedom. Sanford was named “Leader of Liberty” by AFP this year for scoring a perfect score of 100%.

But what impresses me most about Sanford is that he took the time to respond to my question regarding the classified 28 pages in the 9/11 report.

Back in August, I reported on Congressmen Massie and Jones’ resolution, H Res. 428 and their call for more co-sponsors.

Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said that U.S. citizens should have the right to read the 28 redacted pages from a report investigating the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Appearing on The Glenn Beck Program, he said there will be “anger, frustration, and embarrassment when these 28 pages finally come out.”

After the call to action from Massie, I reached out to my South Carolina Congressmen.

The only positive response I received was from Congressman Mark Sanford.

In August, I asked Sanford if he was planning to read the 28 pages? He replied, “absolutely.”

Congressman Sanford treated me with respect and took my request serious. Not only did he take the time to read the 28 pages, he went a step further and became a co-sponsor on 9/10/2014.

That type of action is rare in Washington.

His fulfilled promise meant a lot to me and I’m sure it means a lot more to the 9/11 families.

I am proud that Mark Sanford is our Congressman in South Carolina.

Here is a list of current co-sponsors for H Res. 428. Click here.