CIA Cannot Stonewall Whether the Jamal Khashoggi Tape Acknowledged by Trump Exists – By Adam Klasfeld (Law and Crime) / Dec 8 2020
The CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence cannot refuse to disclose whether they have a tape of slain Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The tape’s existence was publicly acknowledged by lame-duck President Donald Trump and his outgoing Vice President Michael Pence.
“President Trump’s statement literally admitted that U.S. ‘intelligence agencies’ had reviewed the tape and that the government possesses it,” U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote in a 29-page opinion, directing the government to provide a so-called Vaughan index acknowledging that possession.
“And, although not necessary to this conclusion, to the extent that the CIA might disclaim its own possession of the tape as a fact not publicly known, the Vice President’s official statement realistically acknowledged at least the historical possession of it by the CIA at the time of its investigation,” the ruling continued. “These official statements by the top two officials in the executive branch sufficiently acknowledge the tape to preclude the government from claiming that its identification on a Vaughn index would reveal undisclosed classified information.”
The opinion marked a limited victory for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which has been fighting for transparency over of U.S. government investigation into Khashoggi’s killing since January 2019.
