The 9/11 Advocates Group is accusing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) of stabbing them in the back today after he and Sen. John McCain (R – AZ) unveiled what they are called a “fix” to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a bill which aimed to allow the 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for backing al-Qaeda ahead of the attack..

While the Saudis lobbied heavily against the bill, and threatened to collapse the US economy over it, it passed easily earlier this year, though even back then Republican leadership was openly talking about gutting the bill after the November election. The election’s gone, and if the “fix” has its way, so are the lawsuits

That’s because the “fix” requires plaintiffs to prove the Saudis “knew” and were “directly” financing the terrorist organization itself. Since the 9/11 Report’s 28 pages show the funding was all done through a convoluted route, it would effectively end any chance of legal repercussions for the Saudis.

Which of course is the point, though Graham insists that what he’s really concerned about is that the existing bill which allows lawsuits over stuff the Saudis actually did, might also open the US up to lawsuits over the many, many things they’ve done.

That of course has been the administration’s beef with the bill all along, with officials arguing that it is a dangerous precedent to set that countries can be sued for overt crimes against civilians, since the US is intervening so heavily abroad.