On February 26, the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the findings of its investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018.

Khashoggi, 59, was lured to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in hopes of getting paperwork needed to marry his fiance. He entered the consulate but never came out, and evidence soon emerged that a special Saudi team sent to Turkey killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman (MBS), while he was inside. Khashoggi's remains have never been found.

The ODNI assessed named 18 participants it said were "complicit in or responsible for" the killing "on behalf of" MBS.

“We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the ODNI stated in the report’s executive summary.

“We base this assessment on the Crown Prince's control of decision making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman's protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi.”

The Saudi government and its supporters reacted to the ODNI report with hostility, with the Saudi Foreign Ministry tweeting: “The Government of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Completely Rejects the Assessment in the Report Submitted to U.S.’ Congress Regarding Murder of Saudi Citizen Jamal Khashoggi."

The tweet was accompanied by a longer statement, part of which read:

“This crime was committed by a group of individuals that have transgressed all pertinent regulations and authorities of the agencies where they were employed. The relevant authorities in the Kingdom took all possible measures within our legal system to ensure that these individuals were properly investigated, and to ensure that justice was served.”

The claim that the Kingdom “took all possible measures” to bring those responsible to justice is false.
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