"We seek urgent answers as to whether Mr. Khashoggi was in fact contacted about the credible threat to his life and liberty posed by the Saudi plot to capture him… and whether the intelligence community will declassify portions of U.S. intercepts of Saudi officials relevant to Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance," they wrote in a letter on Monday.
They told Director Coats that, considering the profound ramifications of the journalist’s disappearance, they intended to "use the full force of Congressional oversight and investigatory powers to obtain these answers should they not be forthcoming."
US media reported earlier this month that US intelligence agencies had intercepted Saudi officials’ conversations proving that the Saudi crown prince had ordered an operation to detain Khashoggi, a US resident.
READ MORE: CIA Chief Traveling to Turkey Over Khashoggi Case — Reports
Saudi Arabia has been under international pressure after Khashoggi, a known critic of its government, vanished inside its Istanbul consulate on October 2. Riyadh eventually admitted that the Washington Post columnist had been murdered in a fight with men who came to Turkey to rendition him.
