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Saudi Arabia Helps Violent Fugitives Flee U.S. Justice System, FBI Says

Saudi Arabia helps U.S.-based Saudi citizens flee the U.S. to avoid criminal prosecution, according to a recently declassified FBI memo.

The heavily redacted FBI intelligence bulletin, dated Aug. 29, 2019, was obtained and shared by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Twitter Friday. The Justice Department sent the document in response to a request from Wyden’s office.

Saudi Arabia officials “perceive the embarrassment of Saudi citizens enduring the U.S. judicial process is greater than the embarrassment of the United States learning that the [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] surreptitiously removes citizens with legal problems from the United States,” the FBI wrote in the bulletin.

Some of the Saudi fugitives receiving assistance from the Middle Eastern kingdom face charges ranging from traffic violations to rape, child pornography and manslaughter, according to the FBI.

Saudi Arabia will continue to help Saudi citizens charged with crimes evade the American justice system unless the U.S. government addresses the activity, the FBI stated in its bulletin.

The FBI said it made its assessment with “high confidence.”

In a joint statement on Friday, Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) urged President Donald Trump to take immediate action on the issue.

“The declassified FBI report is extremely damning for the Saudi government,” Wyden tweeted Saturday. “If after this bombshell information, the Trump administration still fails to hold the Saudi government accountable, it will be nothing short of an accomplice in helping Saudi fugitives evade justice.”

Wyden and Merkley introduced two bills earlier...

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