The move, dubbed “Khashoggi Ban” by the state department, led to the issuance of a visa ban on Sa Saudis and their families. The plan was initially drawn up by the Trump administration, which reassured it for fear of distancing itself from a Middle Eastern ally. According to people familiar with the development of the policy, Biden’s team considered the idea during the transition, once they were in office fees to find out that career state department officials had already worked out the plan.
A senior Trump administration official confirmed that the plan had been sent by most senior officials in the Trump administration and was rejected by “consensus recommendation” after discussion.
After Biden was sworn in, the new officers appointed to the State Department arrived with “a similar concept already in mind,” a Biden administration official said. They asked career experts who pushed the plan under Trump what could be done to make it a success.
Finally, a list of 76 Saudis on “Khashoggi Ban”, whose names have been released by the State Department, was sent to Congress in February 2020 as part of a classified report on the proceedings under consideration by then-Secretary of State Mike. Pompeo, an official who has seen the lists, told CNN.
Javed Ali, a longtime national security official during the tenure of both Trump and President Barack Obama, said it was common for departments and agencies to review previously-considered policies when the new administration arrives. “This is especially the case in the first few months of the new administration.”
76 Visa bans on Saudi A Saudi official and the Crown Prince’s personal protective team joined the sanctions against the Rapid Intervention Force. But there was no direct goal of punishing the Crown Prince, who was given a special name at the top of a long-awaited classified intelligence report that allowed Khashoggi’s assassination.
The goal the Biden administration argued last week is now “recovery” with Saudi Arabia, not a “breakdown”.
A senior State Department official said in a statement that “any country that dares to participate in these vague acts should know that their officials – and their immediate family members – may be eligible for this new policy.” “We expect its impact to have a deterrent effect worldwide.”
The Trump administration disagreed, feeling the visa ban would be reactive, a senior Trump official told CNN. The ban was considered “symbolic, ineffective and likely to drive Saudis into Russia.” [and] A Chinese hug, ”the official said.
In response to the criticism, the Biden administration defended itself by focusing on the initial steps taken against Saudi Arabia, not to go too far against the MBS: US support for the war in Yemen, review of arms sales, and heavy focus on human rights. .
When Biden’s top intelligence official, Avril Haynes, released an undisclosed report on Khashoggi’s assassination, he was doing well based on his promise to publish it to Congress. Exemption was required by law, which was ignored by the Trump administration.
ODNI declined to give a full explanation of why the names were omitted, in addition to saying that their names were not included.
Last week, ODNI sent a classified explanation for the error to Capitol Hill, an official who said he had seen it and who said the three men were in fact linked to Khashogi’s murder.
It was no accident that all three names were on one version of the report, the official said.
ODNI declined to comment on the clarification made to Congress.
The error, which now appears to be a clumsy disclosure of classified information, is more pronounced because the Biden administration said there was no new information in the report and was briefed to Congress a year ago. None of the three names linked to Khashogi’s death have been mentioned before.
One of the three men, identified as Abdullah Mohammed al-Hawiri, is an anti-terrorism official whose brother is the head of Saudi Arabia’s presidency of state security. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
CNN’s Vivian Salama and Kylie Atwood contributed to the report.
.
