DNI Nominee Haines Pledges to Release Unclassified Report on Murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Wyden Praises Haines’ Commitment; Haines Also Acknowledges CIA Spying on Congress Was Wrong
Washington, D.C. – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., secured a commitment from Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines to release an unclassified report about who was responsible for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, in her nomination hearing today.
“It was refreshing to hear a straightforward commitment to follow the law from DNI-nominee Haines, after a year of stonewalling by the Trump administration to conceal the identity of who ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,” Wyden said.
Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has worked for two years to declassify what the U.S. government knows about who ordered the gruesome murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul.
“Ms. Haines, if you are confirmed, you have an opportunity to immediately turn a page on the excessive secrecy and lawlessness of the outgoing administration,” Wyden said in today’s hearing. “Congress passed a law requiring the DNI to submit to Congress an unclassified report on who was responsible for the brutal murder of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. If you are confirmed, will you submit to Congress the unclassified report required by the law?”
“Yes senator, absolutely, I will follow the law,” Haines replied.
Wyden authored a law requiring the director of national intelligence to release an unclassified report on who was responsible for ordering Khashoggi’s killing by February 2020. However, the Trump administration refused to follow the law.
In response to questioning by Wyden, Haines also acknowledged that the CIA’s spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee during the creation of the torture report was wrong.
Video of the full exchange is available here and below.
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