{"slug":"trump-khashoggi-mbs-cover-intelligence","title":"Khashoggi Assassination: Trump Covered for Saudi Crown Prince Despite CIA Conclusion","date":"2018-10-02","lastUpdated":"2019-02-15","description":"On October 2, 2018, Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The CIA concluded with 'high confidence' that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had ordered the killing. Trump refused to impose significant consequences on Saudi Arabia or MBS personally, citing arms deals and oil prices. He issued a statement saying 'it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn't.' The Senate passed a resolution blaming MBS; Trump threatened a veto.","summary":"Khashoggi, a permanent U.S. resident and Washington Post contributor, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain marriage documents and was killed by a Saudi hit squad. Turkish intelligence recordings documented the killing. The CIA assessed with high confidence that MBS had ordered it. Trump's response was to prioritize the Saudi relationship over accountability: he repeatedly questioned the CIA's conclusion, cited a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, and issued an unprecedented presidential statement that effectively exonerated MBS by saying even if he was responsible, the U.S. would stand by Saudi Arabia. A bipartisan Senate resolution holding MBS responsible was passed; Trump threatened to veto related legislation.","category":"foreign-policy","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-dead-saudi-arabia.html","title":"Saudi Arabia Admits Khashoggi Is Dead, Blaming a Fight","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-just-told-the-world-that-the-united-states-is-for-sale/2018/11/20/4ad5a4c4-ecf6-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b_story.html","title":"Trump's response: told the world the U.S. is for sale","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/khashoggi-mbs-cia-conclusion-trump","title":"CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi killing","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Assessment-Saudi-Gov-Role-in-JK-Death-20210226v2.pdf","title":"Intelligence Community Assessment: The Killing of Jamal Khashoggi","publisher":"Office of the Director of National Intelligence"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Khashoggi","Saudi-Arabia","MBS","press-freedom","first-term","foreign-policy","CIA"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2018-10-02","title":"Khashoggi enters Saudi consulate; is killed","summary":"Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain marriage documents. He does not emerge. Turkish intelligence, which had surveillance of the building, documents that a 15-member Saudi team was inside; recordings indicate Khashoggi was killed within minutes of entering."},{"date":"2018-10-11","title":"Turkey reveals recordings; Saudi Arabia changes story","summary":"Turkey reveals it has audio and video evidence of Khashoggi's killing. Saudi Arabia, after initially denying any knowledge, then claiming he left the consulate, eventually acknowledges he died inside — attributing it to a 'fistfight.'"},{"date":"2018-11-16","title":"CIA briefing confirms MBS ordered killing","summary":"The CIA delivers its assessment — high confidence that MBS ordered the killing — to members of Congress. Trump publicly questions the finding and says the CIA has not concluded MBS ordered it, contradicting the agency's own assessment."},{"date":"2018-11-20","title":"Trump issues statement — cites arms deals","summary":"Trump releases an unprecedented presidential statement titled 'America First!' that lists U.S. financial and strategic interests in Saudi Arabia as reasons to maintain the relationship, and states MBS 'maybe' had knowledge of the killing despite CIA's high-confidence conclusion."},{"date":"2019-02-15","title":"Administration misses deadline to report on MBS","summary":"The administration misses a congressionally mandated deadline to report on whether MBS was responsible for Khashoggi's death — a report the Global Magnitsky Act required. The Biden administration released the declassified ODNI assessment in February 2021."}],"location":{"name":"Saudi Consulate, Istanbul, Turkey","lat":41.0082,"lng":28.9784},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Vienna Convention on Consular Relations","article":"Article 55","provision":"Consular premises shall not be used in any manner incompatible with the exercise of consular functions — the Saudi consulate was used to commit extrajudicial murder"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 6","provision":"Right to life — extrajudicial execution of a journalist by a state actor constitutes a direct violation; cover-up by allied state (U.S.) constitutes enabling"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Jamal Khashoggi (murdered); journalism community; press freedom; accountability norms for state-sponsored political murder","structuredVictims":[{"name":"Jamal Khashoggi","group":"Washington Post journalist; Saudi dissident; U.S. permanent resident","status":"Murdered October 2, 2018, inside Saudi consulate in Istanbul by Saudi government agents"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)","role":"Saudi Crown Prince; CIA assessed with high confidence he ordered the killing","institution":"Saudi government"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; refused to hold MBS accountable despite CIA conclusion; prioritized arms deals over accountability","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2019-02-15","summary":"Updated with missed reporting deadline."}]}}