WITHOUT EXPLANATION

Three Names Were Mysteriously Scrubbed From the U.S. Khashoggi Intelligence Report

The initial report was replaced by an altered version in which three names of people blamed for Khashoggi’s killing were removed.

On Friday, U.S. intelligence published a long-awaited report detailing the brutal assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. But, a few hours later, something weird happened. According to CNN, the link to download the report went dead, and it was soon replaced by a link to an altered report in which three names of people blamed for Khashoggi’s killing were removed. The three were among the long list of people accused of having “participated in, ordered, or were otherwise complicit in or responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence refused to explain why the change was made, simply saying in a statement to CNN: “We put a revised document on the website because the original one erroneously contained three names which should not have been included.” The report ends with a list of people—initially 21, but then 18 when the three names were removed—who U.S. intelligence conclude with “high confidence” were involved in the murder approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.