--- title: Sen. Wyden Wants Answers on Saudi Suspect Who Fled Oregon description: Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is asking the Trump Administration for answers about whether the Saudi government helped a Saudi national flee the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/5490263/ron-wyden-saudi-arabia-suspect-flee/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-29T16:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:01.394Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senator Calls on Trump Administration to Investigate Saudi Role in Helping Manslaughter Suspect Flee U.S. og:description: Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah faced trial for a fatal 2016 hit-and-run og:url: https://time.com/5490263/ron-wyden-saudi-arabia-suspect-flee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt304e805d6ceb4465/69894261096a94fc356a443c/Image-from-iOS-8.jpg?branch=production&width=618&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 618 og:image:height: 348 og:image:alt: Abdulrahman_Sameer_Noorah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senator Calls on Trump Administration to Investigate Saudi Role in Helping Manslaughter Suspect Flee U.S. twitter:description: Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah faced trial for a fatal 2016 hit-and-run twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt304e805d6ceb4465/69894261096a94fc356a443c/Image-from-iOS-8.jpg?branch=production&width=618&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senator Calls on Trump Administration to Investigate Saudi Role in Helping Manslaughter Suspect Flee U.S. > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e93fbe72-9ee5-447a-b627-3c1182c5af93&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Person of the Year: The Guardians and the War on Truth [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Person of the Year: The Guardians and the War on Truth](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ynSDAmcj.m3u8) (5:16)  _Published 2018-12-11. TIME Person of the Year: The Guardians and the War on Truth_ by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Dec 29, 2018 4:00 PM UTC  Photo courtesy of Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Photo courtesy of Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Dec 29, 2018 4:00 PM UTC Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is asking the Trump Administration for answers about whether the Saudi government helped a Saudi national flee the U.S. after he was accused of killing an Oregon teenager. Wyden, a Democrat who sits on the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote a [letter](https://www.scribd.com/document/396479191/Wyden-letter-Noorah) to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, asking whether they could confirm a report by [the _Oregonian_](https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/12/9b5b1eff724150/he-was-accused-of-killing-a-po.html) that in 2017 the Saudi Arabian government helped then-20-year-old Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah avoid trial for the 2016 fatal hit-and-run crash of 15-year-old Fallon Smart. According to the _Oregonian_, the Saudi government allegedly paid $100,000 for Noorah’s bail and provided him with a passport and facilitated his escape via private jet. Wyden said if these claims are true, it shows a pattern of Saudi government officials abusing diplomatic privileges. > [](https://twitter.com/Oregonian/status/1078820714600386573) “These are shocking claims in any event, but with the barbaric murder of U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, they suggest a brazen pattern of disregard for the law and abuse of diplomatic privileges,” Wyden wrote. The _Oregonian_ report comes at a time of increased scrutiny of U.S.-Saudi relations following the [death on Oct. 2 of Washington _Post_ columnist Jamal Khashoggi](http://time.com/5420680/jamal-khashoggi-meng-hongwei-china-saudi-arabia-trump/), who was allegedly murdered and dismembered after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. [Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed](http://time.com/5433213/saudi-crown-prince-jamal-khashoggi-death/) bin Salman called the killing a “heinous crime that cannot be justified.” Wyden called for a thorough investigation of Noorah’s disappearance and asked that he come back to the U.S and face trial for his role in the hit-and-run. He also said that U.S. should place restrictions on Saudi Arabia for their role if the _Oregonian_ report is true. “If they are accurate, they would require significant restrictions on Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic privileges and call into question the future of America’s bilateral relationship with the Saudis,” Wyden wrote. “Since the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia, what steps is the Trump administration taking to ensure Mr. Noorah is accountable for the death of Ms. Smart?” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] Who [00:04] holds government accountable not we cross these [00:08] lines we sound the alert There are now [00:14] people in power who see journalism as a threat [00:17] [ FOREIGN ] Freedom of Of the press starts at [00:21] the local level. [ FOREIGN ] It is violence, fear and lies. [00:26] We don't have the luxury to [00:30] lose our freedom. What are you gonna stand for, what [00:32] is the line that you won't cross? [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] [00:34] Their Philippines [00:42] is a customary tale for the United States. Duterte is an [00:46] authoritarian [ CROSSTALK ] He's an authoritarian [00:47] leader accused of a variety of human rights abuses. [00:50] Duterte pledged that he would kill a hundred [00:52] thousands filipinos. When people don't know what is [00:55] real and what is fake, the voice with the loudest [00:58] megaphone gains more power. There's no president [01:01] for what the government is doing. They just have no [01:03] idea where it will go. [ SOUND ] Mainstream [01:08] media in Vietnam are monopolize by the state. The [01:10] numer of Bloggers being setenced to very long. And [01:13] has been held after exposing a [01:22] toxic waste. [ FOREIGN ] A court in Myanmar sentenced [01:26] [ CROSSTALK ] Was sentenced to seven years in prison. [01:29] The journalist said they were framed because of their [01:31] reported of a massacre of Rohingya people. My [01:32] husband worked to expose the truth. I am teaching my [01:36] child to be proud of her father. [01:41] [ FOREIGN ] The [01:45] problem goes beyond censorship. China's massive [01:48] surveillance program. I make the decision to prohobit [01:51] this operation. Where is he? Whats happened to him? [01:54] Her husband has been detained in the Northwestern [01:57] part of the country. You can't be asking questions. If [02:00] one takes the definition of news as something that [02:03] someone wants to suppress, by definition, journalists [02:06] will be going against the interests of the [02:11] powerful. More protests are happening in Sudan. [02:13] [ CROSSTALK ] In institutions, rule of law, we lost all of [02:16] these things. Sudan is a country without laws. We are [02:20] not the [ INAUDIBLE ] you are nothing. Democrats and [02:24] Republicans alike have been criticizing president [02:26] Trump after he refused to punish Saudi Arabia over [02:30] the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. We're [02:32] not gonna give up hundreds of billions of dollars in [02:34] orders. You have to be wilfully blind not to come to the [02:38] conclusion that the crown prince is a wrecking ball. [02:41] And it is complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. We [02:49] all learned in our schools that the journalists shouldn't [02:52] be the story itself. My government didn't like the story. [02:55] They put me in jail. I was attacked, and I'm in exile [02:59] now. The story is not written by myself Tatiana [03:05] Felgengauer was stabbed in the neck by an assailant [03:07] who breached station security and attacked her. It's [03:10] hard, but if you feel that you cannot be [03:14] anyone else, be brave, and be Here's [03:19] the moment Arkady Babchenko returned from the [03:21] dead. Well that is the journalist who was reported had [03:24] been shot [03:33] dead. [ FOREIGN ] Around 10, 000 Hungarians have [03:37] protested in Budapest against government control of [03:40] the media. Critics fear it's a sign the country is slipping [03:43] into authoritarianism. Bad situation in Venezuela [03:46] getting a whole lot worse, the Attorney General. [03:48] [ CROSSTALK ] Deadly protests riddled the streets this [03:50] summer after President Maduro rewrote the country's [03:52] constitution and banned the main opposition party. [03:57] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] Mexico is the most [04:09] dangerous country in [04:16] Latin America. [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] The [04:20] news doesn't tell the truth. They are so dishonest. [04:24] You are fake news. Explosive devices discovered in [04:26] multiple locations. We're gonna jump in there's a fire [04:28] alarm here. You might have heard it in the background [04:30] we're gonna find out what the latest. I hate being the [04:32] story, I just do. There has been a shooting at a [04:35] newspaper building in Annapolis. That put us closer to [04:38] the rest of the world in a way this horrifying but eye [04:41] opening. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [04:46] it's a series of small decisions that in the end bends [04:50] and breaks the rule of law. When I'm [04:54] dissapointed or pessimistic I always go to my library [04:58] And read history books. Democracy and freedom of [05:01] the press, they are fragile, but in the end they will [05:05] prevail. 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