On the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Senate Intelligence Committee is holding a public hearing to assess the security and intelligence relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to the commission's statement.
The committee’s statement indicated that there have been several high-profile events in recent years that have potential implications for the security and intelligence partnership between Riyadh and Washington.
The committee’s statement specifically mentioned the attack that occurred in December 2019 inside a US naval military base in Pensacola, Florida, where a Saudi military envoy killed 3 Americans and wounded 8 others.
The investigations of the American agencies revealed that the Saudi officer cooperated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and the attack resulted in the deportation of 21 Saudi military students who were studying at the base.
The statement referred to the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign targeting civilians in Yemen, and to Saudi Arabia's failure to hold all individuals responsible for what it described as the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as reports indicating Saudi Arabia's nuclear ambitions.
It is noteworthy that, according to Bob Woodward's new book, "Anger," President Donald Trump boasted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after killing Jamal Khashoggi and dismembering his body.
"I saved him and persuaded Congress to leave him alone. I convinced them to stop," Trump said, according to the interview.
The committee recently voted on the Intelligence Authorization Act in fiscal year 2021, which aims to address many of the issues of longstanding concern to Congress.
The witnesses will inform the committee of ways to enhance the monitoring of the committee towards US-Saudi relations, and they will inform its members about future legislation on related topics by highlighting several points, including:
Benefits of cooperation between the United States and Saudi Arabia in combating terrorism.
The Kingdom's role in spreading extremist ideologies that have been central to the rise of violent extremism around the world.
How have recent Saudi regional policies, especially its war in Yemen, helped or hindered US national security objectives?
Public evidence has mounted that Saudi security services, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have participated in a global campaign to intimidate and silence critics of the Saudi government, including American citizens.
Speaking before the hearing - chaired by Democratic Representative Adam Schiff - 3 witnesses: Dr. Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Bruce Riedel, a former intelligence official specializing in Saudi affairs and currently working as director of the intelligence project at the Brookings Institution, and Ali Soufan He is a former international terrorism expert for the FBI and founder of the Soufan Research Center.