On Tuesday, the president of the United States issued a statement, rife with exclamation marks, explaining why he was standing with Saudi Arabia despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American permanent resident. In the key passage of the statement, Trump expressed uncertainty on the key question: the culpability of Saudi leaders in the assassination.
King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!
In fact, the CIA has leaked their conclusion that they are certain with a high degree of confidence that bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder.
Aside from the comment indicating uncertainty, Trump also repeated smears against the late journalist (“Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an ‘enemy of the state’ and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood”), while appending provisos. (“My decision is in no way based on that—this is an unacceptable and horrible crime.”) Trump also repeated the falsehood that Saudi Arabia has “agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States,” creating “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
As former CIA director John Brennan noted, Trump’s remarks mean that any accountability in the Khashoggi case will have to come from Congress.
Since Mr. Trump excels in dishonesty, it is now up to members of Congress to obtain & declassify the CIA findings on Jamal Khashoggi’s death. No one in Saudi Arabia—most especially the Crown Prince—should escape accountability for such a heinous act. https://t.co/exQrZKybhk
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) November 20, 2018