Top intel office fails to meet deadline to give Khashoggi report to Congress: report

The top intelligence office failed to meet a deadline this week to provide a report to Congress on Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, BuzzFeed News reported. 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) missed a Tuesday deadline to give an unclassified report to four congressional committees about Khashoggi’s death at a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey in 2018. The deadline was established in the recently passed defense bill, which gave the ODNI 30 days to file the report. 

Since Khashoggi’s death, there has been speculation that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing, with the CIA reportedly concluding his he was involved. This report could be the administration’s first public statement attributing blame to Crown Prince Mohammed, which Saudi officials have denied. 

The office is supposed to submit the report to the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees and the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, according to BuzzFeed News. It is unclear the reason why the report is delayed, but it is not uncommon for offices to miss deadlines declared in the defense bill.

A representative for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who pushed for the report requirement to be included in the defense bill, told BuzzFeed News that the senator’s office has inquired about the delay but has not received a response.

“Every case is different,” Wyden spokesman Kevin Chu said. “However if the [intelligence community] isn’t going to comply with the law, Congress needs an explanation.”

A source close to the committee also told the news outlet that it is too soon to say whether the office needed more time on the report or is withholding it.

A spokesperson for ODNI declined to answer BuzzFeed News’s questions, saying “As with all requests that come from Congress, we continue to work with them, with our oversight committees to respond.”

The report asked for conclusions and evidence about the involvement of current or former Saudi government or political officials and a list of foreigners who were complicit in or ordered the killing.

The Hill has reached out to ODNI for comment.