On Wednesday, a CNN report stated that imprisoned Al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui, referred to as the “20th hijacker” of 9/11 , made a sworn statement last October, claiming members of the Saudi Royal family supported Al-Qaeda financially. Moussaoui claimed Osama bin Laden tasked him with generating a database of Al-Qaeda’s financial supporters and named prominent Saudis.

“Sheikh Osama wanted to keep a record who give money … who is to be listened to or who contributed to the jihad,” Moussaoui is quoted as saying. The information was obtained from transcripts used in a New York federal court on Monday, where families of 9/11 victims have filed suit against Saudi Arabia, claiming the country should be held accountable for allegedly funding Al-Qaeda leading up to 9/11.

Moussaoui names former Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan, billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal as some of the alleged Al-Qaeda donors. Earlier today, the National Monitor raised questions about Saudi King Salman’s potential connection to Al-Qaeda, and the involvement of other members of the Saudi royal family in supporting global terrorism. Also today, in an unexpected move, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal sold a majority of his stock in Newscorp. Newscorp is the media conglomerate of Rupert Murdoch. Prince Al-Waleed has been a longtime stockholder, and still owns 1 percentof the company, after selling roughly 5.5 percent.

The Saudi Arabian Embassy denied Moussaoui’s claims vehemently and raised questions of Moussaoui’s mental health, saying in a statement, “There is no evidence to support Moussaoui’s claim… Moussaoui is a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent. His words have no credibility.”

Moussaoui attempted to fire his lawyers in 2006 after they raised questions of his mental illness, but the proceeding judge ruled Moussaoui mentally competent. In an article by the New York Times lawyer Sean Carter, who was present during Moussaoui’s deposition claimed the defendant seemed both “mentally sound” and “focused.”

While the Saudi government officially denies claims of any involvement with terrorist organizations, a cable from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaked by Wikileaks points to Saudi nationals as major financial supporters of terrorist groups. In the cable Clinton is quoted as saying, “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide… More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups.”

An article by the Huffington Post highlights the importance of President Obama’s recent meeting with King Salman, as concerns grow over what direction U.S.-Saudi relations will move under new leadership. For now, the Saudi Royal family will remain under scrutiny from the U.S. public