Declaration of Donald C. Canestraro
Your Declarant, Donald C. Canestraro, declares the following:
I am an investigator assigned to the Office of Military Commissions — Military Commissions Defense Organization and have been working in that capacity since April of 2016. Prior to my assignment to the Military Commissions Defense Organization, I was a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for more than 21 years. While serving as a DEA Special Agent, I interviewed numerous suspects and witnesses. Information developed during these interviews furthered investigations under my purview; these investigations led to seizures and arrests. Testimony I have provided has been accepted by both federal and state courts as accurate and trustworthy and has contributed to numerous convictions. I have not included each and every fact known to me in this declaration.
During July of 2016, I began an investigation into the possible involvement of the Saudi Arabian Government and the Central Intelligence Agency in the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. In support of this inquiry, I began a review of discovery provided by the Government to the Defense and open source materials available on Omar Al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi intelligence officer who had contact with 9/11 hijackers Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar. During the review I conducted, I noted that an FBI file on Al-Bayoumi released to Judicial Watch by the FBI pursuant to a FOIA request used a “199” numerical designator followed by the letters “SD”. Based on prior training and experience, I noted that the FBI file designator is a part of a numerical code that tells the reader what type of violation the FBI is investigating in a given case. I observed that the “199” numerical designator most likely indicates a counter intelligence file and that the capital letters “SD” indicates that the investigation was conducted by the San Diego Field Office.
I then analyzed FBI documents referencing Omar Al-Bayoumi released by the Government to the Defense pursuant to a prior discovery production. The documents show that a witness interviewed by the FBI, following the 9/11 attacks, told agents that he suspected Al-Bayoumi was a Saudi intelligence officer. Further information from the discovery shows that FBI agents conducted numerous interviews regarding Al-Bayoumi after the 9/11 attacks. The interviews show that Al-Bayoumi was seen with 9/11 hijackers Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar on numerous occasions and had organized a social gathering for the hijackers while the two men were living in San Diego. Further investigation by the FBI shows that Al-Bayoumi assisted the two hijackers with getting an apartment.
The released FBI information shows that Al-Bayoumi was interviewed by FBI agents in 2003 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During the interview, Al-Bayoumi stated that he met Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar at a Middle Eastern Restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Bayoumi stated that he overheard Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar speaking Arabic in the restaurant and that he spoke with the two men and then offered to assist them in finding an apartment in Sani Diego.
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