FBI concealed terror suspect from 9/11 Commission

http://washingtonexaminer.com/fbi-co...rticle/2554193

By Susan Ferrechio | September 30, 2014 | 5:17 pm

The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has obtained internal FBI documents showing a rift between the bureau and the 9/11 Commission over al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, who was later killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.

Al-Awlaki, an American, was designated a terrorist by U.S. officials and is believed to be connected to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

According to Judicial Watch, which obtained the documents through a FOIA request, the FBI was in contact with al-Awlaki beginning in 2003, but would not help the commission reach him for their investigation.

The FBI apparently kept close track of al-Awlaki, noting that he spent $2,350 on prostitutes in the D.C. area in 2001 and 2002.

The FBI, however, refused to help the the 9/11 Commission, which traveled to Yemen in an attempt to track down al-Awlaki while, unbeknownst to them, he remained in phone and email contact with the FBI.

In one email to an unknown FBI agent, he offered to meet with U.S. officials to counter the “lies” he believes were written about him in the Sept. 11 congressional report.

“Even though I have nothing more to say than what I did at our previous meetings I just wanted to let you know that I am around and available,” al-Awlaki said in an Oct. 23, 2003 email to the unnamed agent. “I am amazed at how absurd the media could be and I hope that the U.S. authorities know better and realize that what was mentioned about me was nothing but lies.”

Judicial Watch last year obtained FBI surveillance logs showing agents in 2002 followed al-Awlaki to the Pentagon, where he was invited to speak at a luncheon as part of the government’s Muslim outreach program.

“These new documents raise troubling questions about the FBI’s dealings with al-Awlaki, a known terrorist that the FBI knew had facilitated the 9/11 attacks,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said Tuesday. “The FBI’s refusal to assist the 9/11 Commission is an outright scandal that deserves further scrutiny.”