Release of Khashoggi Report Could Embarrass Saudi Prince

Joe Biden’s nominee for national intelligence director has pledged to release a report on who was responsible for the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, a decision that could embarrass the kingdom’s crown prince and strain its relationship with its key ally.

Avril Haines, who would be the nation’s first woman to oversee U.S. intelligence agencies, made the promise at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Congress required the national intelligence director to release an unclassified report to legislators on the killing, but the Trump administration didn’t follow through.

One Year On, Khashoggi Murder Still Casts Pall Over Saudi Arabia

Khashoggi, a Saudi-insider-turned critic who was living in the U.S., was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, causing a global outcry. Saudi officials denied the prince played any role, saying the murder was carried out by rogue agents who’ve been prosecuted. President Donald Trump, citing national interests such as arms deals that he said superseded the killing, expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

But the case became a persistent pressure point in Congress, and Biden, who is to be inaugurated as president later Wednesday, has said he would treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah.”

The report, if critical of the prince, could further strain relations with the U.S. and will be released at a time when he is facing domestic challenges including a faltering economy and discontent within the royal family.

Releasing the report would be “an effort by the Biden administration to bring back human rights issues long neglected by Trump into the pillars of U.S. foreign policy,” said Ayham Kamel, head of Middle East and North Africa at the Eurasia Group consultancy. “I don’t see this as a direct effort to sabotage the U.S.-Saudi relationship but it will certainly create some challenges.”

U.S. Weighs Saudi Immunity Request in Assassination Plot Case

The prince is also facing two lawsuits in the U.S. that could potentially cause embarrassment, including one related to his alleged role in Khashoggi’s killing.

The outrage sparked by the murder initially threatened to derail the prince’s economic transformation plan to diversify away from oil, spooking foreign investors and damaging the kingdom’s reputation abroad. But the furor gradually faded, and many businessmen who canceled appearances in Saudi Arabia at the time have since returned.

While “much will depend on the details of the report,” Prince Mohammed would be sensitive to any reopening of the Khashoggi files, which “shifts the focus away from his investment and modernization plans,” Kamel said.