The Lawmakers Also Renewed Their Call for Trump to Release the Transcript of His 2019 Call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Following Khashoggi’s Murder
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representatives Eugene Vindman (Va.-07), James Walkinshaw (Va.-11), Bobby Scott (Va.-03), Don Beyer (Va.-08), Jennifer McClellan (Va.-04), and Suhas Subramanyam (Va.-10) released the following statement on the eighth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
“Eight years ago today, Virginia resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His murder was an unconscionable attack on a journalist and a Virginia resident, and his family and the American people deserve the full truth about what happened and what followed.
“That includes transparency about President Trump’s 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Congressman Vindman reviewed the transcript of that call while serving as a lawyer on the National Security Council, and we believe the American people deserve to see it for themselves.
“As members of Virginia’s congressional delegation, we will continue pressing for the transparency and accountability that this case demands. If President Trump will not release the transcript now, we will force him to do it in the next Congress when Democrats are in charge.
“Eight years is far too long to wait for answers. President Trump should declassify and release the transcript and give the Khashoggi family and the American people the truth they deserve.”
BACKGROUND
Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 — an assassination that drew global condemnation and raised serious questions about Saudi Arabia’s leadership and the Trump administration’s response.
In November 2025, Vindman demanded that the White House release the transcript of a “shocking” 2019 call that took place between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following Khashoggi’s murder. Vindman reviewed this call while serving as a staff lawyer on Trump’s National Security Council.
That same month, he led 37 lawmakers in sending a letter to President Trump calling for the immediate release of the transcript. He also hosted a press conference alongside Hanan Elatr Khashoggi — Khashoggi’s wife — and U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin (Md.-08) and Suhas Subramanyam (Va.-11) to urge President Trump to release the transcript of the call.
In October 2025, Congressman Walkinshaw and Senators Kaine and Warner introduced a bicameral resolution commemorating the seventh anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder and calling for accountability. The resolution also called for the Government of Saudi Arabia to release wrongfully detained individuals, respect the rights of Saudi citizens, and ensure the protection of the freedoms of assembly, association, and the press.
Khashoggi was a resident of Virginia’s 11th District, which was formerly represented by the late Congressman Gerry Connolly and is now represented by Walkinshaw.
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