Son of 9/11 Victim Hands PGA Official Report During Hearing

A man whose father died in the September 11 terrorist attacks handed a PGA official a report documenting Saudi involvement in the day of infamy during a Senate hearing on Tuesday regarding the potential PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger.

PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne were sworn in to discuss the proposed merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the main financial backer of LIV Golf. On June 6, the Tour—after losing popular golfers including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson—announced it would join LIV Golf.

The nearly three-hour hearing, led by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and chaired by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and ranking member Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, included testimony from Price and Dunne.

At one point near the final 15 minutes of the hearing, during a back and forth between Blumenthal and Dunne about how 9/11 families have and will continue to react to this merger if it comes to fruition, a man seated a few rows behind Dunne stands up, then places a white paper on the table next to him as he is speaking.

It was a redacted document related to Saudi involvement in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Brett Eagleson confirmed to Newsweek. Eagleson, who was 15 years old when his father, Bruce, was killed, placed the report on the table.

"It was a calculated risk that I took and I debated even doing it," Eagleson told Newsweek in the hours following the hearing, saying that he handed the same documents to Blumenthal and Johnson ahead of time.

He said he did it because he and other 9/11 families, many of whom are affiliated with the grassroots organization 9/11 Justice, have been fighting for decades now for the truth and want resolution and closure—and should be involved in any type of normalization of relations between U.S. and Saudi entities, especially of this magnitude.

Dunne's words rang hollow to Eagleson, who said he would love the opportunity to discuss with and enlighten the PGA board member about who his likely business partners will be.

"The reason I did that was because Jimmy Dunne claims he hears and respects that all of the 9/11 community has, and we are growing tired of hearing Jimmy Dunne say that nobody he talks to or nobody he knows about was involved in 9/11," Eagleson said.

Newsweek reached out to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf via email for comment.

In a Newsweek op-ed published on July 3, Eagleson said he has made it his life mission to expose the truth behind that fateful day and the obfuscated facts presented both by the Saudi government as well as that of the United States.

"Even as the Kingdom and our own government have for years sought to keep the truth hidden, a light has been and continues to be shone on the Saudi role in 9/11, including mounting evidence of the Saudi support network that helped with the attacks," Eagleson wrote. "The facts show that in the decade prior to Sept. 11, 2001, Saudi Arabia established and operated a network of its government officials who worked inside the United States to promote its brand of radical Sunni extremism, conduct intelligence activities, and ultimately provide support to terrorism."

Blumenthal, who acknowledged in the hearing what Eagleson gave Dunne, said that the Saudis in control will continue to "wield the influence," adding that he hoped Dunne and players would resist the "bucket full of money" and stand up for 9/11 families instead of the deal on the table.

"If we're gonna be selling out to countries that can throw around hundreds of billions of dollars, we're gonna lose—not just financially; we're gonna lose in terms of our democracy and freedom, and institutions like golf," the senator said. "Sports are central to our society, our culture, our economy, our way of life, our self-image, and our image abroad."

Blumenthal then asked Dunne if he would commit to meeting with all of the 9/11 families, some of whom were in attendance on Tuesday. Dunne said he would.

Dunne replied that anyone who was involved in the attacks should be pursued "with extreme prejudice, to the full extent, to the complete capacity." As he started to thank former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Eagleston walked up to the table.

"You saw Jimmy Dunne weasel his way out of that answer when he punted to Obama, punted to Bush...Dunne says he wants to use golf as a way to bridge the gap, use golf as a way to heal," Eagleson said. "You can't use any of that until the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, your new business partners, addresses the elephant in the room—that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led to the success of 9/11."

Oregon's Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, also the Senate Finance Committee chairman, wrote to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Chairman Ed Herlihy on June 15, acknowledging his opening of an investigation into this merger.

Wyden wrote that if both groups successfully align, it "raises significant questions about whether organizations that tie themselves to an authoritarian regime that has continually undermined the rule of law should continue to enjoy tax-exempt status in the United States."

Newsweek reached out to Blumenthal and Wyden via email for comment.

Eagleson, the founder of the group 9/11 Justice, along with reportedly more than 100 victim families and survivors of September 11, protested a LIV Golf event last July that took place at former President Donald Trump's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, according to Politico.

Update 07/13/23, 12:07 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Brett Eagleson.