Joe Biden told to NOT come to 9/11 memorial events by 1,800 relatives and survivors over release of top-secret documents
FAMILIES and survivors of victims in the September 11 attacks have demanded Joe Biden not attend 20th anniversary commemoration events next month.
More than 1,800 people affected by the attacks - including first responders - said that the President should only attend once he orders the release of classified documents they claim may link the Saudi government to the Al Qaeda atrocity.
It adds: "Through multiple administrations, the Department of Justice and the FBI have actively sought to keep this information secret and prevent the American people from learning the full truth about the 9/11 attacks.
"Despite numerous requests by Democratic and Republican members of Congress and hundreds of 9/11 family members imploring previous and now the current administration to bring transparency to the matter, these efforts have been rebuffed and the issue has remained inexplicably ignored.”
Then-candidate Joe Biden allegedly told the relatives in October last year that he would "err on the side of disclosure" in the matter - but with the anniversary looming, "our patience has expired", the statement adds.
"Twenty years later, there is simply no reason — unmerited claims of ‘national security’ or otherwise — to keep this information secret," it says.
Saudi Arabia's alleged involvement or prior knowledge of the 9/11 plot has been an enduring mystery in the years since the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
The 9/11 Commission's 2004 report found "no evidence" of senior Saudi government agencies or individuals funding the Al Qaeda plane attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA.
But subsequent declassified US intelligence material has named individuals with alleged connections to the Saudi government.
Responding to the victims' statement on Friday, the White House said: "Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, especially in these days preceding the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
"We look forward to having more to share in the coming days about actions we are taking to ensure greater transparency under the law."
A group of senators are currently pushing legislation that would declassify thousands of documents held by the intelligence community and Department of Justice.
The September 11th Transparency Act was proposed on behalf of survivors and families who are calling for the documents to be released.
The letter was joined by senators supporting the transparency bill, like Senator Bob Melendez of New Jersey.
"If the United States government is sitting on any documents that may implicate Saudi Arabia in the events of 9/11, these families and the American people have a right to know," he said.
"If information is power, then we must give our 9/11 families access to that information and any power it provides them as they carry forward their search for truth, justice, and accountability for the September 11th attacks."
The declassified documents would help a legal case filed by families and survivors who are suing the Saudi government in federal court in New York.
The federal government has argued the documents are too sensitive for public release and could result in lawsuits against the federal government.