Congress puts heat on Saudis for helping fugitives flee country

Congress is drawing up legislation to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for allegedly whisking its citizens out of the United States after they run afoul of the criminal justice system, some of whom are wanted for manslaughter, rape and child pornography.

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed the Saudi Fugitive Declassification Act, the latest legislative salvo targeting the kingdom as it continues to hemorrhage credibility on Capitol Hill.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would require the FBI to declassify “any and all information” regarding Saudi efforts to extricate their citizens while they were “awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal offense committed in the United States.”

“These are not academic matters, and this is not about a series of victimless crimes,” Wyden said on the Senate floor shortly before his bill passed. “When individuals charged with egregious, violent crimes manage to escape — and when the United States government fails to do much of anything about it — it undermines public safety and harms the US justice system.”