CIA Releases 71 Declassified 9/11 Intelligence Briefs, Including Bin Laden Warning Before Attacks

The CIA has released a collection of 71 declassified President’s Daily Brief products related to the September 11 attacks, revealing years of intelligence assessments about Osama bin Laden, planned attacks against the United States, aircraft hijack threats and al-Qaeda’s capabilities.

Published on September 11, 2026, the collection spans intelligence products dating from 1998 through September 2001, offering a detailed look at what U.S. intelligence was reporting to senior policymakers before the deadliest terrorist attack in American history.

“Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US”

Among the most significant documents is the August 6, 2001 President’s Daily Brief titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US,” issued just over a month before the September 11 attacks.

But the newly published collection shows that warnings involving possible attacks inside the United States had appeared years earlier.

A July 3, 1998 intelligence product was titled “Reports That Bin Ladin is Planning Attacks Inside the US,” while another dated December 4, 1998 carried the title “Bin Ladin Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks.”

Other briefs addressed potential targets for anti-U.S. attacks, bin Laden’s infrastructure in North America, unconventional weapons capabilities and continuing threats to American interests.

Intelligence warnings intensified before 9/11

The collection shows a continuing stream of assessments involving bin Laden and his network in the years leading up to September 2001.

In 2001 alone, the President’s Daily Brief products included assessments on bin Laden’s links to the USS Cole bombing, his pursuit of unconventional weapons, recent anti-U.S. terrorist threats and ongoing operations by his network.

The August 6 warning was followed later that month by another assessment titled “Bin Ladin Operations Are Expert and Flexible.”

The collection concludes with a September 12, 2001 situation report on bin Laden’s movements, issued one day after hijacked aircraft struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

CIA publishes 101-page collection

The CIA is making the entire group available as a 101-page collection, alongside the individual declassified intelligence products.

The release provides a historical record of how U.S. intelligence assessed the growing threat from bin Laden and his network during the years immediately preceding 9/11, including explicit warnings about possible attacks inside the United States and the threat of aircraft hijackings.