Bayoumi, who is now retired from authorities work, has denied understanding the two males were hijackers or that he had any involvement in 9/11, while Saudi Arabia has said that any allegation that it or its officers are complicit in 9/11 is categorically false.
The Kingdom has argued that, as a overseas sovereign state, it has immunity from prosecution in US courts.
The households, who first filed the lawsuit in 2002, spent several years lobbying US Congress to move an modification to the overseas sovereign immunity law to enable the case to go forward.
In 2016, Congress handed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which permits civil claims against a overseas state or official for accidents, death, or damages from an act of worldwide terrorism.
In August 2025, the Manhattan District Court ruled that the 9/11 households had offered enough evidence to meet the phrases of the act and the case was allowed to proceed towards a trial.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday requested the Court of Appeals to reverse that choice.
Counsel Gregory Rapawy argued core points of truth – including the central query of the nature of Bayoumi’s employment by the Saudi state – had not been determined and needed to be carried out so before the nation could be stripped of immunity.
9/11 households’ lawyer Gavin Simpson argued that the District Court had already discovered that Bayoumi’s actions “were not just acts of a good Samaritan or an innocent participant”.
“He was, in fact, following Saudi Arabia’s instructions when assisting the hijackers,” said Simpson, and that these were factors that Saudi Arabia had “failed to rebut.”
One option the judges appeared to wrestle with was whether to ship the case back to the district court to make more concrete findings, which could contain taking testimony from reside witnesses.
Asked by Judge Guido Calabresi which witnesses Saudi Arabia could call in that eventuality, Rapawy instructed that if the situation finally came down to Bayoumi’s credibility, “we would have to see” if he could be called to testify.
As he drew the listening to to a close, Judge William Nardini said “it’s a difficult case, and we will take it under advisement”, that means that the panel would situation a ruling at a future date.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed in the World Trade Center, instructed the BBC she felt constructive about the listening to.
“25 years is an extraordinary time to go without accountability and justice for the murder of your loved one. What we hope is that the judges will uphold [District Court] Judge Daniels’ decision and move to a trial.”
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