This Tuesday, President Donald Trump is slated to deliver the traditional annual State of the Union address before the U.S. House, and with just days to go, one House Democrat has announced he’s bringing a guest whose very presence will serve as a poignant reminder of Trump’s failures. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who serves as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has introduced the Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act, is bringing journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s widow Hatice Cengiz, he announced on Monday. Khashoggi was executed by Saudi authorities on the reported demand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself, but Trump has adamantly refused to issue any kind of blanket condemnation of Salman.
Connolly commented:
‘Hatice’s courage to sit in the House Chamber Tuesday night should serve as a clarion call to the President that no matter how high it goes, Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for the murder of this loving father and fiancée, respected journalist, U.S. resident, my constituent, and reformer. Congress has acted. Now too must the President.’
Khashoggi was a U.S. resident, but he was killed at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. It didn’t take long for the reports to start circulating that the October 2018 execution had been ordered from the highest ranks. Besides the added wrinkle of the bizarrely outlandish personal relationship that Salman has with Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner — you’re not supposed to be palling around with dictators! — Trump has cited economic concerns in trying to justify refusing to take the Saudis on over Khashoggi’s killing.
At one point, Trump flippantly commented:
‘The world is a very dangerous place!.. 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!’
He added that he’s working “to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First!” In other words, rather than even attempt to confront one of his dictator pals, Trump opted to employ vague platitudes about the supposed danger of the universe or whatever. And he’s backed that up with action — in the time since Khashoggi’s murder, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo himself has fast tracked arms sales to the country with claims that the sales are in the national interest of the U.S.
Connolly’s proposed response to the aggression includes a suspension in arms sales to the country for 120 day periods at a time until the country proves that it’s in line with basic human rights standards. The Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act would also demand reports from the intelligence community on Khashoggi’s case in particular and Saudi harassment of dissidents in general.
On Wednesday, the day after Khashoggi’s widow is set to sit in the same Congressional chamber as Trump, Senate Republicans are planning to vote to acquit the president in his Senate impeachment trial, no matter the ample evidence against him.
