Advertisement

White House responds to 9/11 families' request that Biden not attend memorial events

During a press briefing on Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Biden “remains committed” to the pledge made to families of 9/11 victims to approve the release of documents detailing Saudi Arabia’s role in the attack. The comment came in response to members of the 9/11 community calling on the president not to attend memorial events unless the promise is fulfilled. Psaki did not say if the administration will release the documents.

Video transcript

- 9/11 families are saying today that President Biden should not participate in any memorial events unless there's information declassified that could show some link with Saudi Arabia to the attacks. Is he going to follow through with that and release that information?

- Well, our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, especially in these days preceding the 20th anniversary of the attacks, coming up just next month. I know you didn't ask this, but I just want to share that the White House Office of Public Engagement and the National Security Council staff have had several meetings with groups representing the families of those who perished on 9/11 regarding their document requests and to hear their thoughts on policy priorities. That will continue to be a priority.

As a candidate, which you may be aware of, Alex, President Biden made a commitment to 9/11 families to ask the Department of Justice to work constructively on resolving issues relating to the previous administration's invocation of the state secrets privilege, including adhering to guidance issued in the Obama Biden administration that the invocation of such a privilege be narrowly tailored and not be undertaken to prevent embarrassment to a person or organization.

He remains committed to that pledge he made during the campaign. Of course, any steps would be taken by the Department of Justice.