CIA Declassifies Decade-Old Warnings About Bin Laden’s Plane Plot

On the 25th anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency made public 71 presidential daily-briefing documents covering the years leading up to the attacks. The collection includes more than 100 pages of analysis, of which 69 pages are being released for the first time.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

The earliest declassified memo dates to September 10, 1998.

1998 CIA memo warned Clinton of Bin Laden plan to hijack commercial airliner

A later briefing on August 6, 2001, during the George W. Bush administration, reiterated that bin Laden was “determined to strike in US” and noted that al-Qaeda operatives, some of them U.S. citizens, had been living in or traveling to the United States for years.

1998 CIA memo warned Clinton of Bin Laden plan to hijack commercial airliner

A March 9, 2000 assessment reported a small bin Laden cell active inside Israel planning attacks against Israeli interests abroad, and a later brief mentioned a senior bin Laden operative expected to discuss possible attacks, “perhaps including an aircraft hijacking,” with members of the Egyptian group Gama’at al-Islamiyya in the United States.

Declassified CIA document warned Clinton admin in 1998 of possible plane attack US Officials Warned About bin Laden Planning to Hijack Plane Years Before 9/11: Declassified Docs 1998 CIA memo warned Clinton of Bin Laden plan to hijack commercial airliner

• 71 presidential daily-briefing files released.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

• Over 100 pages of analysis, with 69 pages newly public.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

• In 2001 alone, at least 18 presidential intelligence briefings mentioned bin Laden.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

These figures illustrate the volume of material that circulated among senior officials before the attacks.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

The release revives a long-standing debate about whether the pre-9/11 failures stemmed from intelligence agencies’ inability to connect disparate warnings or from political leaders’ reluctance to act on the accumulated alerts. The 9/11 Commission concluded that responsibility was shared across agencies, citing a “failure of imagination,” poor inter-agency coordination, and insufficient operational intelligence to disrupt the plot.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

• The September 10, 1998 memo’s impact on President Bill Clinton remains unclear; sources could not determine whether Clinton read the document or received a direct briefing.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

• Some claims within the declassified set, such as a Libyan group’s intent to crash a plane into the World Trade Center, could not be corroborated, according to the 9/11 Commission.

US Officials Warned About bin Laden Planning to Hijack Plane Years Before 9/11: Declassified Docs

• Several documents are heavily redacted, leaving open questions about the full extent of the intelligence that was available to decision-makers.

New CIA files reveal Bill Clinton warned of bin Laden threat before 9/11

• “In an act of exceptional transparency, we honor the memory of those we lost on that tragic Tuesday by releasing 71 declassified products—the single largest release of CIA analysis related to 9/11 ever,” — CIA Director John Ratcliffe

US Officials Warned About bin Laden Planning to Hijack Plane Years Before 9/11: Declassified Docs

• “In an act of exceptional transparency, we honor the memory of those we lost on that tragic Tuesday,” — John Ratcliffe, CIA director

Declassified CIA document warned Clinton admin in 1998 of possible plane attack

• “What John O’Neill was trying to do was get a momentum going in the FBI to look seriously for those cells,” — Richard Clarke

For Years, John O’Neill Warned of Al Qaeda’s Threat. Then He Died on 9/11.

• “You could be flagged as a problem, and your career could pretty much be over,” — Joe Cantamessa

For Years, John O’Neill Warned of Al Qaeda’s Threat. Then He Died on 9/11.