LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour Antitrust Addresses 9/11 Protest Group

In discovery for its antitrust case, the Saudi Arabia–backed golf league is asking a Washington, D.C.–based consulting firm to explain whether any ties exist between the PGA Tour and a group called 9/11 Justice.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – New court documents in the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf reveal a thread from the PGA Tour and Clout Public Affairs to an advocacy group called 9/11 Justice.

In a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Brett Eagleson, the president of 9/11 Justice, confirmed that his organization in June had both reached out to the PGA Tour and hired Clout, a D.C.-based public strategy and consulting firm, to assist 9/11 Justice with its goal of forcing Saudi Arabia to admit its involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the court filing, Eagleson said his reasons for hiring Clout were “to aid in (9/11 Justice’s) efforts to educate the American public and key decision-makers regarding the continuing failure to hold the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which includes drawing the American public’s attention to the Saudi Arabian government’s deplorable record on human rights and other areas vital to American interests.”

Protesters hold signs as people board buses from the parking lot to attend the LIV Golf Boston event Sept. 2, 2022

According to Eagleson’s affidavit, Clout was not the only public relations group hired by 9/11 Justice, but no other group was identified in the affidavit.

Eagleson said in the affidavit that he also reached out to the PGA Tour at the same time with an email to Laura Neal, executive vice president of media content and communications, and Joel Schuchmann, senior vice president of communications.

In the email, Eagleson suggested it could make a lot of sense for the groups to join forces.

Eagleson offered family members of Sept. 11 victims for advocacy purposes and to work collaboratively in Congress, as well.

In a phone call with Sports Illustrated, Schuchmann confirmed he had a conversation with Eagleson, but said it was a casual chat with nothing substantive that launched any plans. He said 9/11 Justice’s involvement with Clout was not discussed. Neal did not respond to SI’s request for comment.

On June 27, 2022, 9/11 Justice Inc. was formed in Delaware.

According to Eagleson, with the organization’s involvement in passing the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in 2016, work toward getting certain Sept. 11 documents from the FBI declassified in ’21 and the newly passed ’22 omnibus bill in Congress that compensates nearly 6,000 spouses and children of 9/11, the organization was never focused on incorporating.

Neither Eagleson nor the PGA Tour provided a comment in response to questions from SI asking whether any charitable contributions were made from the Tour to Clout for 9/11 Justice Inc., or whether any direct contributions were made to the organization from the Tour.

“It would be a chilling effect on fundraising if we disclosed our donors,” Eagleson said.

On Dec. 13, LIV Golf, as part of its discovery in its antitrust case against the PGA Tour, learned of Clout’s existence and filed a motion complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel Clout to answer questions about its relationship with the PGA Tour, 9/11 Justice and 9/11 Families United, which is another Sept. 11 group with similar goals.

“These accusations are outrageous,“ Terry Strada, national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, said in a statement. “Neither I nor 9/11 Families United took a penny from the PGA [Tour] or anyone connected to golf.”

Both 9/11 Families United and 9/11 Justice seek a similar outcome: to have the U.S. government force Saudi Arabia to admit involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.

At the same time Clout, in court documents filed Jan. 3, said it is concerned with proceeding with any requests that disclose information about its own efforts or those of 9/11 Justice.

“Both Clout and its client and political associate, 9/11 Justice, have a reasonable fear that disclosure of their internal communications about the Saudis and September 11 will provoke retaliation,” Clout wrote in its opposition to the LIV Golf subpoena. “First, as explained above, the Saudis are already believed to have murdered Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and witness in the 9/11 families’ litigation against the Kingdom, in order to stop his activities in the United States. Additionally, the Saudis have already hired an agency in the United States specifically to track and monitor the advocacy activities of the 9/11 victims and families.”

Both 9/11 Justice and 9/11 Families United say they plan to rally in April in Augusta during Masters week.