CIA Director John Brennan, seen here testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C., said that the 28 classified pages of the Sept. 11 Commission Report contains information that is inaccurate, uncorroborated and unvetted that could be incorrectly used to point to alleged involvement by Saudi Arabia. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday said the 28 classified pages of the Sept. 11 Commission Report, which are said to describe Saudi Arabia's involvement, contain information that is inaccurate, uncorroborated and unvetted.

Brennan made the comments during NBC News' Meet the Press. Chuck Todd, the show's host, mentioned that Florida Sen. Bob Graham has been "trying to publicly get more attention to the idea of releasing these 28 pages."


When Todd asked what would prevent officials from releasing those pages, Brennan said he was "quite puzzled" as to why Graham and others would want those pages released.

"This chapter was kept out because of concerns about sensitive source of methods, investigative actions. The investigation of 9/11 was still underway in late 2002. I'm quite puzzled by Senator Graham and others because what that joint inquiry did was to tee up issues that were followed up on by the 9/11 Commission, as well as the 9/11 Review Commission. So these were thoroughly investigated and reviewed. It was a preliminary review that put information in there that was not corroborated, not vetted and not deemed to be accurate," Brennan told Todd.

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Todd then asked Brennan if the controversial secret 28 pages were completely inaccurate and false.

"No, I think there's a combination of things that is accurate and inaccurate. And I think the 9/11 Commission took that joint inquiry, and those 28 pages or so, and followed through on the investigation. And they came out with a very clear judgment that there was no evidence that indicated that the Saudi government as an institution, or Saudi officials individually, had provided financial support to al-Qaida.

Brennan went on to say that some may "seize upon that uncorroborated, un-vetted information" to allege Saudi Arabian involvement, "which I think would be very, very inaccurate."

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John Brennan is a career CIA employee who was station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the 1990s. He served as chief of staff to CIA Director George Tenet, who was head of the agency on Sept. 11, 2001. Brennan was named by President Barack Obama to succeed acting director Michael Morell, who had stepped into the job after the resignation of David Petraeus. Brennan was confirmed by the Senate and officially became the director of the CIA in March of 2013.

His comments follow increased debate surrounding the classified pages, as a bill that would revoke Saudi Arabia's sovereign immunity, that protects it from lawsuits related to the Sept. 11 attacks, generated attention.

Saudi Arabia has never been formally linked to the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., but 15 of the 19 hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia. The 28-page section of the government's official report on the Sept. 11 attacks deals with the role foreign governments played in the plot, but that section remains classified and has not been released to the public.

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President Barack is expected to veto a bill that would revoke Saudi Arabia's sovereign immunity -- citing harm to the U.S. economy.