Donald Trump seems to be changing his tune when it comes to the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Friday he said the story about a fistfight gone wrong was credible, but Saturday he acknowledged there are holes in the Saudis story.
President Trump strongly criticized Saudi Arabia’s explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi late Saturday, saying that “obviously there’s been deception, and there’s been lies.”
At the same time, Trump defended the oil-rich monarchy as an “incredible ally” and kept open the possibility that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not order Saudi agents to kill Khashoggi.
“Nobody has told me he’s responsible. Nobody has told me he’s not responsible. We haven’t reached that point . . . I would love if he wasn’t responsible,” Trump said in a phone interview with The Washington Post.
Several Republican lawmakers are taking things a step further, saying they believe Saudi officials were involved in Khashoggi’s murder.
"Do I think he did it? Yes, I think he did it" @SenBobCorker on Saudi's MBS and the death of Jamal Khashoggi to @jaketapper
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) October 21, 2018
Questions are also growing over Jared Kushner’s relationship with Saudi’s Crown Prince. Even Kushner’s father-in-law is apparently raising concerns behind the scenes. The Washington Post adds:
U.S. officials said he has privately grimaced that his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s close relationship with the crown prince has become a liability and left the White House with no good options.
The Wall Street Journal explains:
On Oct. 10, eight days after Mr. Khashoggi went missing, Prince Mohammed called Jared Kushner, the adviser and son-in-law to President Trump, according to people briefed on the phone conversation.
Why the outrage, Prince Mohammed asked in English. Government officials and business leaders had turned from lavishing praise on the prince to criticizing him.
Two people familiar with the call said Mr. Kushner, along with national security adviser John Bolton, delivered a tough message that Prince Mohammed needed to get to the bottom of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance fast.
Mr. Trump warned of “severe punishment” if the U.S. determined the Saudi government was implicated
Karen Attiah, Jamal Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post, said that the Saudi government's account of his death "is not an explanation. This is an attempt at a cover-up." pic.twitter.com/XVcrk0h4sG
— Axios (@axios) October 21, 2018
Meanwhile the Saudi Foreign Minister appeared on Fox this morning to say that the prince was unaware of the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi. From The Washington Post:
“Adel al-Jubeir denied that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had any prior knowledge of an operation that resulted in the killing of journalist and Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His statement comes amid mounting pressure on Mohammed and global calls for a transparent investigation.
“This was an operation that was a rogue operation,” al-Jubeir said. “This was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding the authorities and responsibilities they had. They made a mistake when they killed Jamal Khashoggi.”
