had the eerie sense that he “knew every detail” of the attacks, in spite of having been in custody for years. As of 2006, though reportedly still a prisoner at an unknown location, Mohamed had yet to be sentenced. There is just one reference to him in the 9/11 Commission Report—and no mention of his relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies (Hazmi view: MFR [unnumbered], 4/23/04, CF;
interview:
, 10/24/01; investigators startled: Graham with Nussbaum, 159–, ints. Bob Graham, Eleanor Hill; informant/Butler talked: FBI IG, Report, JI, 162, “Conspiracy Theories: The Intelligence Breakdown,”
www.cbc.ca
; “ally”: Report, JI, 162; FBI refused: Joint Inquiry, Report, 3, Graham with Nussbaum, 162; Bush officials: “Bush Should Cry Uncle and Release Saudi Info,” 6/28/03,
www.opednews.com
, Report, JI, 3; Commission memorandum: MFR [unnumbered], 4/23/04, CF; inconsistencies: CR, 517n28; might-have-been: Report, JI, 19–; “big embarrassment”/“did know”: Graham with Nussbaum, 166; “explosive”/“monitoring”:
Report, 11/29/02; Shaikh 2009: Miriam Raftery, “Abdussattar Shaikh, Co-Founder of San Diego’s Islamic Center, Honored for 50 Years of Service Promoting Religious Tolerance,” 10/8/09,
www.eastcountymagazine.org
; “No single”: “A Conversation with Peter Lance,” 12/06,
www.internetwritingjournal.com
& see Wright, 179–, Bergen,
, 142–; Aug. 6 brief: J. M. Berger, “What the Commission Missed,” 10/4/06,
www.intelwire.com
; “knew every”: ibid.; pled guilty: J. M Berger, ed.,
, INTELWIRE, 2006, 311; unknown location/yet to be sentenced: Bergen,
, 433, Scott, 348n28, 157, 159; one reference: CR, 68 & see Staff Report, ”9/11 & Terrorist Travel, CO, 57).
68 “incontrovertible”: Report, JI, 395. The document, which Graham dated as August 2, 2002, is partially cited in Congress’s Joint Inquiry Report in a passage about a CIA memo that cited “incontrovertible evidence that there is support for these terrorists [words redacted].” The Report goes on to state that “it is also possible that further investigation of these allegations could reveal legitimate, and innocent, explanations for these associations.” Senator Graham cast doubt on an FBI finding that Bayoumi and Basnan were neither agents nor accomplices in the 9/11 plot. Former Saudi ambassador Bandar, for his part, described reports that Bayoumi was a Saudi agent as “baseless” (Graham with Nussbaum, 169, 224–, 11n, Bandar press release, “Bayoumi is not a government agent,” 7/23/03, www.saudiembassy.net).
69 Commission interviews: e.g., MFR 04019365, 2/24/04;
70 Thumairy “deceptive”/?denied/?prompted/?second interview/?“say bad”/?“implausible”: Snell, De, & Jacobson to Zelikow, 2/25/04, MFR 04019362, 2/23/04, CF;
71 Bayoumi favorable/stuck to story: Shenon, 309–, MFR of int. Omar al-Bayoumi, 10/18/03, CF;
72 Zelikow think not agent: Zelikow to Shenon, 10/18/07, www.philipshenon.com;
73 distinguishing mark: CR, 516n19;
74 salary approved/picture found: Report, JI, 174 & see Staff Statement 16, DOCEX 199-HQ-1361032, “Hijacker Primary Docs, PENTTBOM Memo re CD found,” B50, T5, CF;
75 “cleansed”/“deceptive”: MFR 04019367, 2/24/04, Snell, De, & Jacobson to Zelikow, 2/25/04, CF;
76 “the witness’ utter”: MFR int. of Osama Basnan, 10/22/03, CF.
77 Hussayen/Mosques/in States:
78 Marriott Sept. 10/?“muttering”/?Paramedics/?“faking”/?kitchenette/?“I don’t”: MFR 04017480, 10/9/03, MFR 04017486, 10/9/03, MFR 04017482, 10/9/03, MFR 04019354, CF,
79 Aulaqi contact/move: See pp. 291–92;
80 son of minister:
81 preached Capitol:
82 lunched Pentagon:
83 remained U.S.:
84 phone number/Binalshibh: Report, JI, 178;
85 Fort Hood/Detroit bomb/Times Square/cargo planes:
86 capture or kill:
87 “loose end”: McClatchy News, 11/21/09.
88 “that the Saudis”: int. Bob Graham.
89 “persuasive evidence”/“did not find”: Zelikow to Shenon, 10/18/07, www.philipshenon.com. The Commission, according to its Report, believed that al Qaeda likely did have “agents” in California, “one or more individuals informed in advance” of Mihdhar and Hazmi’s arrival. During their research, the authors also saw information suggesting that hijacker leader Mohamed Atta had contact in Florida with one or more wealthy Saudis. A senior law enforcement officer in Florida told the authors—on condition that he not be identified —that he was personally involved after 9/11 in investigating the activities of “a man married into one of the Saudi ruling families.” Until his sudden departure on August 30, 2001, the man had lived not far from Venice, where Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah had trained to fly. The information gathered convinced the authors’ source that the three future hijackers visited the man’s house, where alcohol and women were made available. The authors have also seen a lengthy taped interview with a former Venice Yellow Cab driver named Bob Simpson. Simpson described having picked up a “wealthy Saudi businessman” at Orlando Executive Airport and later that day having taken him to an apartment building where he had previously picked up Mohamed Atta. After 9/11, Simpson said, the FBI questioned him about the Saudi. Simpson did work for Yellow Cab in 2001, but the authors’ efforts to trace him were unsuccessful (“agents”: CR, 215; Simpson: videotape & transcript in the collection of Daniel Hopsicker).
90 page 395: Report, JI, 395–;
91 CIA not obstruct: corr. office of Bob Graham, 2009;
92 Bush himself: ibid., Graham with Nussbaum, 228, 215–, 231,
93 Pelosi: CNN, 7/30/03;
