Declassified Files Reveal Pre-9/11 Warnings to Clinton and Bush

Recent releases of classified documents have highlighted that both former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush received multiple warnings about Usama bin Laden and his terror network’s plans to hijack large commercial jets. These documents, unveiled by the Trump administration, include presidential daily briefs (PDBs) and CIA intelligence memorandums.

The reports indicate that terrorists had previously circumvented security checks in a test run at a New York airport three years before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The plot’s goal was to use hijacked flights to demand the freedom of imprisoned extremists like Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and Ramzi Yousef.

Some members of the bin Ladin network have received hijack training, according to various sources, but no group directly tied to bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization has ever carried out an aircraft hijacking, stated a presidential daily briefing from December 4, 1998. It further noted that bin Laden might consider other types of operations targeting U.S. aircraft.

In an earlier memorandum dated September 10, 1998, bin Laden’s preferred method was reported to be striking on U.S. soil, particularly in Washington, D.C. The memorandum warned that the network responsible for the East Africa embassy bombings could fly a plane loaded with explosives into an American city.

Throughout 1998, intelligence agencies closely monitored bin Laden’s activities, identifying his associates across several U.S. states, including New York, California, Texas, Michigan, and Florida. This effort spanned two presidential administrations.

An August 6, 2001, PDB presented to Bush warned of suspicious activities in the U.S. reminiscent of preparations for hijackings or other attacks. It noted recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

Al-Qa’ida members — including some who are US citizens — have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks, stated the document. Intelligence linked the desire for retaliation to U.S. missile strikes on bin Laden’s Afghan base in 1998.

Just weeks before the 9/11 attacks, a daily brief informed Bush that the FBI was conducting approximately 70 investigations across the U.S., potentially linked to bin Laden. The release of these documents aims to provide clarity on what was known before the attacks.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe commented, Today I authorized the release of 71 Presidential Daily Briefs to honor the lives of those killed on 9/11, along with CIA officers who subsequently gave their lives to the fight, in a statement on social media.

Previously in his administration, Trump also declassified files regarding the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.