Civil Discovery Beats Secrecy Claims

A federal judge allowed 9/11 families’ claims against Saudi Arabia to go to trial, and the plaintiffs’ discovery has already undercut the FBI’s conclusion that two U.S.-based Saudi officials 'unwittingly' aided the first hijackers. This shows private litigants, using court-ordered discovery, can revise national-security narratives set by agencies and commissions. — It reframes accountability in opaque security matters by highlighting courts and adversarial discovery—not just FOIA or blue-ribbon panels—as the most effective truth-finding tools.