Pressure Growing On President Trump And Saudi Arabia After CIA Report Implicating Crown Prince in Murder
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Pressure is mounting on President Trump and Saudi Arabia after a damning CIA report implicated the Kingdom’s Crown Prince in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. According to the Washington Post, the CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing, according to people familiar with the matter. However, Riyadh continues to vehemently deny any involvement in the journalist’s murder. President Trump as well as the U.S. Department of State have thus far not endorsed the CIA’s report. It appears Trump is adopting a “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” approach to the Khashoggi incident. President Trump told Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday that there was “no reason” for him to hear a tape recording purported to be of the murder of Saudi activist Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate last month.
“We have the tape, I don’t want to hear the tape, no reason for me to hear the tape,” Trump said in the interview broadcast on “Fox News Sunday.“ When Wallace asked why he did not want to hear the recording, Trump said: “Because it’s a suffering tape, it’s a terrible tape. I’ve been fully briefed on it. There’s no reason for me to hear it”
Members Of Congress Pushing Trump Administration For Answers
On “This Week” Sunday, incoming House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff told ABC co-anchor Martha Raddatz it would be unlikely such a killing would occur without the Saudi crown prince’s knowledge, ABC NEWS reported.
“Given what we know of how the Saudi government operates and the crown prince’s central role in that, it’s very difficult for me to conceive of a murder of a prominent journalist and a critic being carried out without the crown prince’s knowledge,”
U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said.
He added that the killing of a journalist tests the proposition that “the enemy of our enemy is our friend.”
“Our friends don’t murder journalists,” Schiff.
