9/11 Lawsuit

[phkrause]

⚖️ New Saudi allegations in 9/11 lawsuit

Family members and friends attend a 9/11 commemoration ceremony last year in New York City. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Saudi Arabia's leader on Tuesday downplayed the kingdom's role in the 9/11 attacks. But an ongoing federal court case is revealing new details about Saudi officials' alleged ties to the terror plot — and the potential liability the Saudis face, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. The lawsuit unearthed evidence showing one Saudi official — who acknowledges aiding two men who became hijackers — made a drawing of a plane and a mathematical formula that allegedly could have been used to fly into the World Trade Center. Why it matters: A crucial U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia's oil-rich kingdom was the first foreign sovereign to be sued in U.S. federal court under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2016 for the attacks that killed 2,977 people. For 22 years, the kingdom has fought the New York lawsuit, the largest and longest-active case in the federal court system, with 10,000 or so families of victims and insurers seeking damages in what's been called a trillion-dollar lawsuit. Asked at the White House about 9/11 families' anger, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed empathy but tacitly denied his government was involved in the attack. "We have to focus on reality, reality based in CIA documents and based on a lot of documents that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event for one main purpose ... to destroy the American-Saudi relation[ship]," he said. Go deeper: Key evidence from the lawsuit.