A federal judge on Thursday denied Saudi Arabia’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit from families of 9/11 victims, clearing the case to proceed to trial. U.S. District Judge George Daniels said evidence suggests Saudi officials Fahad al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bayoumi helped support the hijackers in California, despite Riyadh’s denials. Victims’ families hailed the ruling as a landmark step toward accountability, while Saudi Arabia maintains the men’s actions were innocent. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, a fact that has fueled suspicions of the kingdom’s involvement for more than two decades.