Should the Intelligence Community Report to Congress on the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi? (S. 544)

What is S. 544?

(Updated April 23, 2019)

This bill would require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report to Congress on regarding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi within 30 days of this bill’s passage. This report, which is to be submitted in unclassified form, would be required to identify the people who carried out, participated in, ordered, or were otherwise complicit in or responsible Khashoggi’s death.

Argument in favor

The truth about Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul still hasn’t been revealed to either Congress or the public, both of whom have a right to know what actually happened. This bill ensures that the truth will come out.

Argument opposed

Publicizing the circumstances of Khashoggi’s killing will anger Saudi Arabia, which is one of America’s most important allies in the Middle East. The U.S. can’t afford to lose or undermine this important alliance.

Impact

Congress; the Director of National Intelligence; U.S.-Saudi alliance; and Saudi Arabia.

Cost of S. 544

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress in response to the Trump administration’s repeated refusal to release a public assessment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at Saudi officials’ hands:

"The Saudi government brazenly murdered a journalist, and this administration refuses to even tell the American people who is responsible for giving the order. This bill says the Trump administration can’t get away with burying the facts about Jamal Khashoggi.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), one of the candidates for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination and one of this bill’s original cosponsors, adds:

“The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was a tragedy and represented an attack on journalists everywhere. Unfortunately, the White House has not provided clear answers about what happened or who in the Saudi government might bear responsibility for the attack. We must always defend the rights of a free and independent press both at home and abroad, which is why I’m standing with my colleagues to demand a public report on this incident.”

Human Rights First supports this bill. Its Senior Vice President of Policy, Rob Berschinski, says:

“President Trump has made clear that he values the word of foreign dictators over the judgement of U.S. intelligence professionals. Since his administration rejected congressional calls to name those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, Congress is right to demand that the intelligence community provide in unclassified form its assessment of those responsible, so the American people can judge for themselves. A world in which journalists and dissidents can be murdered at the whim of political leaders is a world in which no person, of any nationality, is safe. Full credit to members of the Senate for continuing to demonstrate that there can be no alternative to a full accounting for Khashoggi’s killing.”

President Trump has expressed commitment to the U.S.-Saudi alliance after the Khashoggi killing. In a November 2018 statement, the White House defended the continued alliance and cast doubt over assertions that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the hit:

“The world is a very dangerous place!... Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an 'enemy of the state' and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that — this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”

Although he’s called Khashoggi’s killing a “crime” and suggested that there was a “cover up,” Trump has defended bin Salman, saying he “hates it more than I do.” Of the crown prince’s alleged involvement in the killing, Trump says:  

"As I said, 'Maybe he did, maybe he didn't [order the killing].’ But I will say very strongly that [Saudi Arabia is] a very important ally. And if we go by a certain standard we won't be able to have allies with almost any country."

This bill has four Democratic cosponsors in the 116th Congress. In the 115th Congress, the same four Democratic cosponsors supported this bill and it didn’t receive a committee vote.

Of Note: Jamal Khashoggi was a well-known journalist and critic of the Saudi government. For decades, he was close to the Saudi royal family and served as an advisor to the government.  However, he fell out of favor and went into self-imposed exile in the U.S. in 2017, from where he wrote a monthly column in the Washington Post in which he criticized the policies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS.

Khashoggi first visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on September 28, 2018 to obtain divorce documents to allow him to remarry, but was told to return and arranged to come back on October 2, 2018, when he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Initially, Saudi officials denied knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts, and MBS told Bloomberg News that he’d left the consulate “after a few minutes or one hour.” Eventually, on October 20, 2018, state television reported that Khashoggi had been murdered in a “rogue operation” on an intelligence officer’s orders. However, Saudi officials’ accounts of what had happened continued to differ. Ultimately, on November 15, 2018, the Saudi public prosecutor said Khashoggi was given a lethal injection after a struggle, and his body was dismembered inside the consulate after his death.

To date, Saudi Arabia has detained 21 Saudi nationals and dismissed two senior officials in connection with the killing. Saudi King Salman has also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence services — to be headed by MBS. So far, 11 people have been charged in connection with Khashoggi’s death, and the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty in five cases, although none of those officially charged have been identified.

After Khashoggi’s killing and the Saudi government’s admission in late October 2018 that the murder was premeditated, the U.S. government has taken “little action” in response. In late 2018, members of Congress triggered the Magnitsky Act, requiring the president to identify the perpetrators of Khashoggi’s murder and submit a report to Congress within 120 days. However, the report that’s resulted from this investigation has been criticized by some as insufficient.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) has stated that he’s satisfied with the Trump administration’s probe into Khashoggi’s death, even while several GOP lawmakers have complained that the administration hasn’t complied with a law requiring them to make a determination in the killing. Politico reports:

“Many Senate Republicans widely believe that Khashoggi was killed at the direction of the Saudi kingdom after hearing from top administration officials last year. But President Donald Trump has declined to join them in that determination even though U.S. intelligence reportedly concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. Though the Magnitsky Act required the administration to respond to a bipartisan request asking them to come to a conclusion, the White House last week declined to meet the deadline to reply. Multiple Senate Republicans said in interviews on Monday night that they were angry about the administration's move to not comply with the law.”

However, Sen. Risch argues that the administration is acting in good faith to investigate Khashoggi’s death:

"We have had numerous briefings and meetings with the administration where we put the information together that we have, that they had, and like I say it's a work in progress. They've been very forthcoming with us ... they're working in good faith to reach a conclusion on this with some direct evidence."

Foreign Relations ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) disputes Sen. Risch’s assertion, saying that the response the State Dept. transmitted to Congress fell well short of the obligations under the Magnitsky Act:

“The Administration failed to meet its legal requirement to make a determination of responsibility for this heinous murder and report to Congress. I am very disappointed that the response from Secretary Pompeo doesn’t come close to fulfilling the statutory mandate and demonstrates what the administration has wanted all along — the Khashoggi murder to be forgotten. I will continue to push for the President to fully hold accountable those responsible for the death of Mr. Khashoggi and to uphold United States laws.”

Media:

• Sponsoring Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Press Release
  
• Human Rights First Press Release (In Favor)
  
• White House Statement Supporting Saudi Arabia
  
• CNN
  
• The Hill
  
• Politico (Context)
  
• Gulf News Business (Context)
  
• The Hill (Context)
  
• Roll Call (Context)
  
• BBC News (Context)