The Governor and the Golfer
Ron DeSantis met with 9/11 victims while Donald Trump hosted a Saudi-funded golf tournament the same weekend.
Brett Eagleson was 15 when his father, John Bruce Eagleson, perished in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Today, he is president of 9/11 Justice and has spent nearly a decade fighting to uncover more information about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks.
Of the 19 terrorists involved in 9/11, 15 were Saudi citizens, and we now know that Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national, was a Saudi intelligence agent with ties to the hijackers when they entered the U.S. In a recently declassified report, FBI officials concluded that “there is a 50/50 chance [al-Bayoumi] had advanced knowledge the 9/11 attacks were to occur.” The bureau noted he “was paid a monthly stipend as a cooptee of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency (GIP),” and reported to a member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Bandar bin Sultan Alsaud, who served as ambassador to the U.S. from 1983 to 2005.
These revelations are the sort of thing Eagleson has been trying to expose and highlight. He met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee last weekend, joined by Gold Star and military families, veterans and other victims of 9/11 for a Memorial Day event at the governor’s mansion. The affair created a stark contrast between DeSantis, who recently announced his bid for the White House, and former President Donald Trump. As the governor and his wife met with those who lost loved ones on 9/11, Trump hosted a Saudi-funded golf tournament the same weekend.
The juxtaposition was not lost on Eagleson.
“It was just so remarkable and gracious that the governor of Florida invited us to his home,” Eagleson told The New York Post. Eight families received a private audience with DeSantis and his wife, Casey. “He gave us over an hour of his time and listened to every one of our stories.”
On the other hand, Eagleson accused Trump of putting business deals over people.
“He’s choosing profits, and he’s choosing his own interests over the interests of one of America’s most victimized groups, and that is the 9/11 community,” Eagleson told The Post.
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