The death of Jamal Khashoggi is tragic, but Trump’s response to his death makes it all the more horrific. On Thursday, Trump answered questions about The Washington Post journalist by saying that “the world” is to blame, because “the world is a vicious place.”
Senate Dem on Armed Services panel: Trump lying about CIA report on Khashoggi @CNNPolitics https://t.co/5H988QHK4u
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 23, 2018
While that may be true, it isn’t “the world” who killed Khashoggi. He was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by people that the CIA believes may have been acting on the commands of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Trump has dismissed those claims, once again appearing to be taking the side of a foreign leader over his own intelligence agencies.
Turkish Paper Reports CIA Has Recording of Saudi Crown Prince Calling for Jamal Khashoggi to be Silenced
— Mike Walker (@New_Narrative) November 22, 2018
Questions have arisen over why exactly Trump seems to want to give the Saudis a pass, and he’s claimed it’s due to the jobs created by U.S. deals with Saudi Arabia and lower gas prices as a result of his relationship with them. Those questions, however, may soon be answered with more accuracy as Democrats plan to begin an investigation in the House.
Adam Schiff told The Washington Post,
‘Certainly we will be delving further into the murder of Khashoggi, and I want to make sure that the committee is fully debriefed on it,” Schiff told me. “We will certainly want to examine what the intelligence community knows about the murder.’
Asked President Trump about Khashoggi killing minutes ago. He said that Crown prince regretted the death even more than he did, that the “world” was to blame, that the CIA had not concluded that MBS was responsible and that low oil prices were a key reason not to punish Saudi.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) November 22, 2018
Schiff said that, at this time, what the CIA has concluded is not concrete, but that the reports need to be compared to Trump’s statements in order to determine what his sources are.
‘We’ll look at what the intelligence community assessments are at any given time. Then it will be quite clear whether the president is relying on the intelligence community and our best source of information or whether the president is representing something very different.’
I’m gonna reiterate this again. Any financial dealings between Trump, Kushner, and Mohammed Bin Salman must come to light, and soon.
We need to investigate why MBS is getting unconditional loyalty and support from Trump. #khashoggi https://t.co/30O9WKprn8
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) November 22, 2018
Congress has the ability to impose sanctions should Trump continue to refuse even after all of the facts are known, said Schiff.
‘“If members of Congress are able to get a complete briefing on Saudi Arabia” or on other matters, Schiff told me, and this shows “the facts to be at odds with what the president is representing,” then Congress will be “armed with good enough information that it can take action to make sure that our national interests are protected and that we base our policy on the facts.”’
This investigation is likely to be the first of many regarding Trump and his lies to the American people.
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