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Bob Graham

Former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor who co-chaired the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 and spent two decades fighting to expose Saudi Arabia's role in supporting the September 11 hijackers.

FieldDetails
Full NameDaniel Robert Graham
BornNovember 9, 1936, Coral Gables, Florida
DiedApril 16, 2024, Gainesville, Florida (age 87)
RoleU.S. Senator (D-FL), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Co-Chair of the Joint Inquiry into 9/11
PlatformCongressional oversight, books, media appearances
Notable WorksIntelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America's War on Terror (2004)
Evidence RatingWELL-DOCUMENTED

Senate Career and Intelligence Committee Chairmanship​

Bob Graham graduated from the University of Florida in 1959 and Harvard Law School in 1962. He served in the Florida House of Representatives (1966-1970) and the Florida Senate (1970-1978) before winning the governorship in 1978. As Florida's 38th Governor (1979-1987), he left office with an 83% approval rating.

Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, defeating incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins. He served three terms representing Florida from 1987 to 2005. During that time he served ten years on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, becoming its chairman in June 2001 -- just three months before the September 11 attacks. This position placed him at the center of the most consequential intelligence failure investigation in American history.

Graham was one of 23 senators to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq in 2002, arguing that the intelligence did not support the case for war and that the focus should remain on the actual perpetrators of 9/11. He briefly ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion, before withdrawing prior to the first primaries.

Co-Chairing the Joint Inquiry into 9/11​

In February 2002, Graham and Representative Porter Goss (R-FL) were appointed co-chairs of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. This was the first official congressional investigation into the 9/11 attacks, conducted jointly by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The Joint Inquiry published its final report in December 2002, running over 800 pages. It examined failures across the CIA, FBI, NSA, and other intelligence agencies that allowed the attacks to succeed. The investigation identified systemic breakdowns in information sharing, analytical failures, and missed opportunities to detect and disrupt the plot.

Graham later stated that both the congressional inquiry and the subsequent 9/11 Commission operated under tight time constraints that precluded the full investigation the attacks warranted. He argued repeatedly that the investigation was deliberately limited in scope -- particularly regarding the question of foreign government support for the hijackers.

The 28 Redacted Pages​

The most consequential finding of the Joint Inquiry was contained in its final section: "Part IV: Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters." This 28-page section summarized investigative leads describing financial, logistical, and other support provided to the hijackers and their associates by Saudi Arabian officials and others suspected of being Saudi agents.

When the Joint Inquiry report was published in July 2003, the George W. Bush administration classified the entire 28-page section, redacting it completely from the public version. Graham publicly objected to the classification, arguing that the information did not endanger national security and that the American people had a right to know about potential foreign government involvement in the attacks.

Graham spent the next 13 years fighting for declassification. He lobbied the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and Congress. He gave hundreds of interviews, wrote his book, testified before the 9/11 Commission, and supported legislative efforts to compel disclosure.

On July 15, 2016, the 28 pages were partially declassified under the Obama administration. While some redactions remained, the released pages confirmed what Graham had been saying for years.

What the 28 Pages Revealed​

The declassified pages documented connections between the hijackers and individuals linked to the Saudi government, including:

Omar al-Bayoumi: A Saudi national receiving a government stipend who helped hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar settle in San Diego after they arrived in the United States in January 2000. Bayoumi met the hijackers at a halal restaurant in Culver City, California, on the same day he visited the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. He found them an apartment, co-signed their lease, and provided financial assistance. FBI documents later released in 2022 described Bayoumi as a Saudi intelligence operative.

Osama Bassnan: A former employee of the Saudi government's Educational Mission in Washington, D.C., who lived across the street from Hazmi and Mihdhar in San Diego. Bassnan admitted to an FBI asset that he had met both hijackers. A search of Bassnan's residence found copies of 31 cashier's checks totaling $74,000, dated between February 1999 and May 2002.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan: The Saudi Ambassador to the United States. The 28 pages documented that Bandar's wife, Princess Haifa al-Faisal, sent tens of thousands of dollars in monthly stipends to Bassnan's wife through a Saudi charity, ostensibly for "nursing services." Some of these checks were also deposited by Bayoumi's wife. The pages established an indirect financial chain from the Saudi Ambassador's household to individuals who directly assisted the hijackers.

The pages stated that "while in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government."

His Claims That the FBI Covered Up Saudi Involvement​

Graham made some of his most pointed accusations against the FBI. He stated publicly that "the FBI has gone beyond just covering up, by simply withholding information, into what I call aggressive deception."

Specifically, Graham charged that:

  • The FBI had an informant in San Diego who was in close contact with two of the hijackers and even housed one of them, yet the Bureau concealed the existence of this informant and the scope of his contacts from the Joint Inquiry.
  • When the congressional inquiry requested all FBI information about 9/11, the Bureau did not disclose its extensive contacts with Saudi-connected individuals in San Diego.
  • The FBI concealed a separate investigation into a Saudi family in Sarasota, Florida, who had connections to the hijackers and who abruptly abandoned their home shortly before September 11. This Sarasota connection was not disclosed to Congress or the 9/11 Commission.
  • Days after September 11, U.S. authorities allowed Saudi nationals to fly out of the country despite a complete civil aviation ban, then expedited the departure of more than 100 Saudis from the United States.
  • Throughout 2002, President Bush directed the FBI to limit its investigations of Saudi Arabia.

Graham argued that these actions constituted not mere negligence but a deliberate pattern of protecting Saudi Arabia from accountability.

Intelligence Matters (2004)​

Graham's book, Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America's War on Terror, co-written with Jeff Nussbaum, was published in 2004. The book laid out his case that the Bush administration had systematically covered up evidence of Saudi government involvement in the September 11 attacks.

The book detailed the Joint Inquiry's findings, the obstruction Graham encountered from the executive branch, and his argument that the White House's behavior "bore all the hallmarks of a cover-up." Graham accused the administration of redirecting national attention toward Iraq -- a country with no operational connection to 9/11 -- while shielding Saudi Arabia, whose citizens comprised 15 of the 19 hijackers and whose government officials had demonstrable connections to the attack's support network.

Support for JASTA​

Graham was a prominent supporter of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), legislation designed to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue foreign governments -- specifically Saudi Arabia -- for their alleged role in the attacks. JASTA narrowed the scope of foreign sovereign immunity by amending the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.

The legislation passed both houses of Congress and was vetoed by President Obama in September 2016. Congress overrode the veto -- the only successful veto override of the Obama presidency -- and JASTA became law. Graham viewed the passage of JASTA as a partial vindication of his long campaign to hold Saudi Arabia accountable.

Key Quotes​

"The FBI has gone beyond just covering up, by simply withholding information, into what I call aggressive deception." -- Bob Graham, describing FBI obstruction of the Joint Inquiry

"I believe that the 19 hijackers did not act alone, and that the evidence suggests a strong linkage between those terrorists and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi charities, and other Saudi stakeholders." -- Bob Graham, upon the partial declassification of the 28 pages, July 2016

"There were agents of the Saudi government which assisted at least two of the hijackers who ended up living in San Diego -- provided them with financial support, with anonymity, with a place to live and with flight lessons, and protected them for, in one case, over a year." -- Bob Graham, WBUR interview, September 2016

"The White House was so uncooperative with the bipartisan inquiry that its behavior bore all the hallmarks of a cover-up." -- Bob Graham, Intelligence Matters (2004)

The Counterargument​

  • The Saudi government has consistently denied any involvement in the September 11 attacks. The Saudi Ambassador stated that "several government agencies, including the CIA and the FBI, have confirmed that neither the Saudi government, nor senior Saudi officials, nor any person acting on behalf of the Saudi government provided any support or encouragement for these attacks."
  • The 9/11 Commission's final report stated it found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaeda, though it acknowledged that Saudi Arabia was a significant source of al-Qaeda funding through charities.
  • Some analysts argue that the connections documented in the 28 pages reflect the actions of individual Saudi officials or operatives rather than a coordinated government policy.
  • The declassified 28 pages themselves carried a disclaimer noting that the information represented unvetted investigative leads, not confirmed conclusions.
  • Critics of Graham's position note that the investigation's findings have not led to criminal charges against Saudi officials.

Death and Legacy​

Bob Graham died on April 16, 2024, at a retirement community in Gainesville, Florida, at the age of 87. His death was announced by his daughter, Gwen Graham, a former U.S. Representative.

Graham spent nearly the last two decades of his life -- from his retirement from the Senate in 2005 until his death -- pressing for full disclosure of Saudi Arabia's role in the September 11 attacks. He never wavered from his central argument: that a foreign government provided material support to the hijackers, that the U.S. government knew this, and that multiple administrations chose to protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship rather than pursue accountability.

His advocacy directly contributed to the partial declassification of the 28 pages in 2016 and the passage of JASTA. The 9/11 families' lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, enabled by JASTA, continues in federal court.

  • Philip Zelikow -- Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission, whose investigation Graham criticized as insufficiently rigorous on the question of Saudi involvement
  • Coleen Rowley -- FBI whistleblower who exposed the Bureau's pre-9/11 intelligence failures, corroborating Graham's charges of FBI dysfunction and obstruction
  • Sibel Edmonds -- FBI translator turned whistleblower who alleged that the Bureau suppressed intelligence related to the 9/11 attacks

Other Coverage Worth Reading​

  • David Ray Griffin: Theologian-turned-researcher who wrote 12 books dismantling the official 9/11 narrative piece by piece.
  • Richard Gage: Architect who organized 3,500 professionals challenging the physics of the World Trade Center collapses.
  • William Rodriguez: WTC janitor and last man pulled from the rubble who reported explosions in the basement before impact.
  • Christopher Bollyn: Investigative journalist who traced 9/11 connections through Israeli intelligence and neoconservative networks.

Sources​

This information was compiled by Claude AI research.