This archive report was first published on 23 June 2021.
June 23, 2021 - The New York Times reported that four members of the Saudi hit squad that killed US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 had received paramilitary training in the United States, approved by the State Department.
Khashoggi, a Saudi-born US resident who wrote for the Washington Post, was an outspoken critic of the Saudi leadership. He was murdered on October 2, 2018, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of agents sent from Saudi Arabia.
The training was provided by a private American security group, Tier 1 Group, a move first authorized by the administration of former president Barack Obama in 2014. The training continued at least until the start of Donald Trump's presidency.
According to a document provided to the Trump administration, the four members of the kill team received the training in 2017. Two of them had already participated in a previous course from October 2014 to January 2015.
However, Louis Bremer, a top official from the parent company of Tier 1 Group, insisted that the training was
