Murphy, Blumenthal, DeLauro, Larson, Himes, Hayes Urge Attorney General Garland DOJ Review of "States Secrets Privilege'

Press Release

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) along with U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for the Department of Justice to review previous administrations' assertion of the "state secrets privilege" in response to litigation brought by the families of 9/11 victims. They were joined on the letter by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as well as Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).

The letter reads in part: "The 9/11 families--many of whom we have the honor of representing in Congress--have fought relentlessly for nearly twenty years to bring to justice all those associated with the worst terrorist attack on American soil...We understand that the families in this litigation seek documents that they believe would show Saudi Arabia's complicity in the attacks, as well as information related to Operation Encore, an investigation conducted by the FBI between 2007 and 2016. Like other victims, these families deserve to go to court with all the evidence available to them under a fair application of the law."

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