Author: editor28pages

Video: September 9, 2014 Press Conference on the 28 Pages

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Yesterday, Congressmen Walter Jones, Stephen Lynch and Thomas Massie hosted another press conference in their continuing drive to achieve the declassification of a 28-page finding on foreign government support of the 9/11 hijackers. This one, coming two days shy of the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, was marked by emotional appeals from family members of 9/11 victims as well as a survivor at the World Trade Center.

Below, you’ll find the full video of the press conference, including a question-and-answer session that followed prepared remarks. Especially touching are the words of Kaitlyn and Justin Strada, whose father, Tom Strada, was killed at the World Trade Center just four days after Justin was born.

The most sharply-pointed demand for the release of the 28 pages came when Matthew T. Sellitto, whose son Matthew C. Sellitto was killed at the World Trade Center, closed his remarks by saying:

So, if I spoke to (9/11 Commission Chairman) Tom Kean and if I spoke to (9/11 Commission Vice-Chairman) Lee Hamilton, and they told me there’s no security risk, and if the people that gave them the power to run this 9/11 Commission trusted them, and they tell me there’s no security risk, then Mr. President, when you tell me there’s a security risk and that’s the reason you’re not making these public…Mr. President, I call you—a liar. And my son’s dead. And I don’t know all the facts, because Mr. President, you’re lying to me.

CNN’s Jake Tapper Reports on the 28 Pages

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This afternoon, the controversial classification of a 28-page finding on foreign government support of the 9/11 hijackers received some long-overdue scrutiny by a major news network, as CNN’s Jake Tapper examined President Obama’s failure to keep his promise to declassify the material.

Soon after, CNN posted an editor’s note to the online story:

After the airing of our report, National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden issued this response: “Earlier this summer the White House requested that ODNI review the 28 pages from the joint inquiry for declassification. ODNI is currently coordinating the required interagency review and it is ongoing.”

ODNI refers to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. One wonders why an administration that promised to bring a new level of transparency to the federal government wouldn’t have volunteered that information earlier, particularly when letters to the president from 9/11 family members and survivors are going completely unacknowledged.

Tapper’s report is well worth your time, and includes interviews with H.Res.428 sponsor Rep. Walter Jones, former Senator Bob Graham, 9/11 Commission Chair Tom Kean and Bill Doyle, who lost a son in the attack and was the personal recipient of an Obama assurance that the 28 pages would be declassified.

Video capture of CNN report by Jon Gold

TAPPER TWITTER

Letters from 9/11 Family Group to Obama Go Unanswered

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On three separate occasions, 9/11 Families United for Justice Against Terrorism has sent letters to President Obama, asking him to declassify the 28-page finding on foreign government support of the 9/11 hijackers. Each letter takes a slightly different approach to pleading for the release of the redacted section of a joint House/Senate intelligence study, but one thing they share in common is the response from the president and the White House: complete silence.

One would think an organized group of 9/11 family members would at least merit the courtesy of a presidential reply—if only to say he had received their letter and would give due consideration to their request. Instead, Obama has opted to ignore them, despite the fact that he has reportedly twice promised 9/11 families he would declassify the 28 pages.

The group sent its first letter on June 20, 2013, and never heard back. The group tried again on May 9, 2014—just ahead of the dedication of the 9/11 Museum in New York. Again, silence. Still determined, the organization sent a third letter on June 24 of this year that has likewise gone unanswered.

Former Senator Bob Graham
Former Senator Bob Graham

These letters weren’t simply dropped in a mailbox: According to the group’s co-chair, 9/11 survivor Sharon Premoli, the first was routed through the Office of the White House Counsel and the second and third were delivered to the White House by two different members of Congress.

The letters remind the president of his promises to 9/11 families, and point to the large and growing number of credible experts—including former Senator Bob Graham, who co-chaired the inquiry that created the 28 pages, and both the chairman and vice-chairman of the 9/11 Commission—who say there’s no valid national security reason for the continued secrecy. Indeed, even past and present Secretaries of State in the Obama White House Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are on record urging the declassification of the 28 pages; they did so as senators in a letter to George W. Bush.

You can read the group’s most recent letter here. It was delivered to the White House by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones, who introduced and continues to champion H.Res.428, which urges the president to declassify the 28 pages.

The Obama White House seems to hope that, by ignoring 9/11 families, demands for 9/11 transparency will fall silent. However, as the group says in the closing of its latest unanswered letter, “There is a gathering storm in pursuit of the truth.”

The strength of that gathering storm lies in the growing number of everyday Americans who are contacting Congress and the White House to demand the release of the 28 pages. Take action today.  

Proof: 28 Pages Activism Works

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28Pages.org is determined to bring about the release of a 28-page finding on foreign government support of the 9/11 hijackers. The current focus of our activism is on getting members of Congress to read the 28 pages themselves. Why? Because we’ve observed that doing so tends to instantly transform legislators into cosponsors of House Resolution 14, which urges the president to declassify the 28 pages.

To that end, we’re asking concerned Americans to write or call their House representatives to urge them to cosponsor H.Res.14 and ask if they’ve read the 28 pages or asked permission to do so.

If you’re wondering if it’s worth your time, one look at this letter should convince you it is. 28Pages.org commends North Carolina Congressman Howard Coble for reading the 28 pages, for his responsiveness to his constituent, and for his intention to join the growing, bipartisan list of cosponsors.

Rep Howard Coble Reply to ConstituentCall or write your House representative today—and please share this post on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

28 Ways You Can Build the 28 Pages Movement

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Whether you’re taking your first step toward helping declassify the 28-page finding on foreign government assistance to the 9/11 hijackers, or you’re looking for more ways to help, here are 28 ways you build the 28 pages movement.

1 & 2. Write to each of your two senators or call 202-224-3121 to ask them to cosponsor Senate Bill 1471. Here’s what to say.

3. Write to your representative or call 202-225-3121 to ask them to cosponsor House Resolution 14.

4. Write to the president or call the White House at 202-456-1111 and ask the president to keep his pledge to 9/11 families.

5. Like 28Pages.org on Facebook.

6. Follow @28Pages on Twitter.

7. Contact your favorite reporter, columnist, TV host, blogger or podcaster and ask them to give attention to the issue.

8. Write a letter to the editor.

9. Call in to a radio or TV talk show.

10. Email your friends a link to a video of Rep. Thomas Massie’s memorable remarks on his experience of reading the 28 pages.

11. Bring up the 28 pages using the “comments” feature found under articles on many news and other websites and include a link to an informative page about the 28 pages.

12. Start a discussion thread about the 28 pages on any message board.

13. Post a comment on an elected official’s Facebook page urging them to help declassify the 28 pages and include a link to an article or video on the topic.

14. Explain the issue to friends or family.

15. Invite some friends to like 28Pages.org on Facebook.

16. Subscribe to the 28Pages.org blog by clicking the button on the right side of this page.

17. Make a 28 pages bumper sticker or t-shirt (extra points for showing us your final product via social media).

18. Make and then share a YouTube video like this or this…or, if you want to get your groove on, maybe even this.

19. Share a 28Pages.org Facebook post.

20. Tweet a link to 28Pages.org or other educational content.

21. See if you can get a politically-oriented Twitter user with a large following to retweet you on the topic.

22. Visit your Congressional representative’s local office in person.

23 and 24. Visit each of your senators’ local offices in person.

25. Use #declassify when discussing the subject in social media.

26. Call any member of the Senate Intelligence Committee or House Intelligence Committee and ask them to use special rules to declassify the 28 pages without the president’s approval.

27. Choose any H.Res. 14 cosponsor and call to thank them for their stand.

28. Help us out—add your own activism idea in the comments below!