Two
Administrations Protecting Something in 28 Pages of 9/11 Report
Fox News Channel
April 22, 2016
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[START TRANSCRIPT]
Brian Kilmeade: Twenty-eight pages, that's how much classified
material was left out of the 9/11 Commission Report when it was released in
2004. Now the information is triggering a debate on whether it should be
released to the public or not released to the public.
Pete Hegseth: That's right. Out next guest is one of the few
people who has read those pages, and says the American people need to see
them. Former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee
and former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra joins us now. Congressman,
thanks for joining us this morning.
Pete Hoekstra: Thank you. Good morning.
Hegseth: So you've seen these 28 pages. I know it's classified,
you're limited in what you can say, but what do the American people need to
know about what's in those 28 pages, that you can tell us?
Hoekstra: Well I think number one, the American people need to
know that this was a report that was developed by Congress back in 2004. If
I remember correctly, Congress wanted this information declassified and
wanted to make it available to the American public. It's an issue of
transparency. And at that point in time you know the Bush administration,
the executive branch controls all classification, they said no, keep the
information secret. They wouldn't even let us share the information with
our colleagues in the House.
Kilmeade: So the Daily Mail, I know you have a, you're
under lock and key now, but there was this report in the Daily Mail
that there was this Saudi official that was linked to the embassy, that is
now at Gitmo, became a bomb maker, who had a pilot's license, had lied
about having that pilot's license, and interacted with the hijackers.
There's something with this one guy that is troublesome and might risk our
I guess intelligence apparatus. Was there something about that Daily
Mail story that was correct?
Hoekstra: Well Brian, I really can't talk about it. If, you know
I'd love to take you to my secret private server and share the information
with you, but I don't have the latitude to do that. It's still classified,
so what I can talk about is you know what's in the press and say you know
it's kind of interesting, but we've had two administrations, they're trying
to protect something, you know diplomatic relations with Saudi, diplomatic
relations maybe with Iran, that they think may be jeopardized if this
information becomes public. It's, I don't see any reason why at this point,
12, 13 years later, 15 years after 9/11, why the American people should not
have full access to this data today.
Hegseth: Well Congressman, I think the American people feel much
the same way. I appreciate someone who still cares about classification and
classified information. We live in a world where a lot of that is given
away. Why is this an issue right now? Why has this bubbled to the surface,
these 28 pages? And again, I know you've answered a little bit, but why
would both administrations hold back? What's to hide?
Hoekstra: Well I mean they may have had different objectives
here, the Bush administration perhaps to protect its relationships with
Saudi; this administration has obviously leaned much closer to Iran than
Saudi. It's bubbling up now because the president just went to Saudi
Arabia. Saudi is furious with the United States. They believe we sold them
down the river in the Iran deal, and these kinds of things. And so you know
relations are very delicate right now in the Middle East. That's why these
kinds of things start, keep coming back. Plus, the 9/11 families, they've
always been great advocates for transparency, they're pushing this issue.
Kilmeade: Right, and the Saudis don't want it, they don't want
that lawsuit. Congressman Hoekstra, thanks so much.
Hoekstra: Thank you.
[END TRANSCRIPT]
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