Bringing many changes to US politics domestically and internationally, the Biden administration is slowly introducing his policies, whether by executive orders the new president has signed or through statements made by officials he has nominated for different positions.
This is huge: Incoming DNI, Avril Haines, just committed to releasing an unclassified report on the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. For two years, I've been fighting for transparency and accountability for those responsible. We are closer than ever to getting #JusticeForJamal. pic.twitter.com/FNSarsF4Ce
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 19, 2021
Days before he assumed office, Biden's nominee for the Director of National Intelligence answered the US Senator's question over classified information related to the well-known killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a US resident and held the US green card during the last months of his life.
In response to Oregon's Ron Wyden's question over data available on the Khashoggi case, Avril Haines pledged to release a report on the gruesome murder that took place in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as Khashoggi was obtaining paperwork necessary to get married in Turkey.
The news came to reflect a possible change of US policies towards Saudi Arabia, especially that Trump's statements following the murder were perceived as attempts to protect the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who is a close friend of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Reports by Turkish authorities in the first week of October 2018 suggested that Khashoggi had disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul, promoting strong denial of knowing his whereabouts by the Saudi government for several days, including a statement by the Saudi heir during an interview with Bloomberg News.
Avril Haines intends to release an unclassified report on Jamal Khashoggi’s murder to Congress. I’m so glad she didn’t let that go. I hope that we will be able to see that report as well. I never forgot.
— ??????? ℝ??????? (@jaywhyelle) January 21, 2021
Biden's Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines says, if confirmed, she will provide Congress with an unclassified report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. pic.twitter.com/ocPUsJUeti
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 19, 2021
However, the Turkish police concluded that the 60-years old journalist, who was slightly critical of Saudi's de facto ruler, was killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad several minutes after entering the building, sending shock waves across the world.
Later that month, Saudi authorities admitted that Khashoggi was "killed during a fight at the consulate" and promised to deal with the case thorough investigations and fair trials. In September 2020, Saudi courts commuted the death sentences handed to five convicted individuals citing the Khashoggi family's decision to pardon the perpetrators.
