Saudi Arabia lured journalist Jamal Khashoggi into their consulate in Turkey, murdered and then dismembered him, and lied to the world about it for three weeks. With President Trump defending that behavior, many members of Congress are speaking out.
“To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican ally of Trump. “First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he’s killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince. It’s hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”
Saudi Arabia finally admitted on Friday that Khashoggi was killed, although putting the blame on the American resident.
Trump said he found Saudi Arabia’s explanation about the death of Khashoggi credible, and said he did not support cancelling a $110 billion deal he had reached with the kingdom.
Turkey claims to have a recording of Khashoggi’s final moments before he was murdered.
His killers were waiting when Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago. They severed his fingers and later beheaded and dismembered him, according to details from audio recordings described by a senior Turkish official today.
Khashoggi was dead within minutes, and within two hours the killers were gone.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the Saudi explanation “absolutely defies credibility” and he called for an international investigation of Khashoggi´s death.
“The Saudis very clearly seem to be buying time and buying cover. But this action raises more questions than it answers and there is no way the world will wait for 30 days for a Saudi investigation to be done,” Blumenthal said.
Rep. Adam Schiff said Saudi Arabia’s claim that Khashoggi died in a brawl wasn’t credible.
“The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life,” said Schiff, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee.
“The Kingdom must be held to account. If Administration doesn’t lead, Congress must,” Schiff said.
Sen. Bob Corker, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said he doubted the credibility of the Saudi authorities, who lied and insisted for weeks that he left the consulate.
“The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water,” he said.
Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should pursue sanctions against Saudis involved in Khashoggi’s death under a US law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in custody.
“The Global Magnitsky Act doesn’t have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, that’s no excuse for his murder,” Menendez tweeted. “This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure.”
Rep. Mike Coffman said the United States “must stand up for our values and demand our allies respect human rights.”
The Colorado lawmaker, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to immediately recall the acting US ambassador from Saudi Arabia.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tweeted: “We should halt all military sales, aid and cooperation immediately. There must be a severe price for these actions by Saudi Arabia.”
Trump had helped float the now discredited theory of “rogue killers” that had murdered the American resident.
Khashoggi was a journalist, and Trump’s history with journalists has been marred by occasional references to violence and regular allusions to “fake news” media being the “enemy of the American people.”
Trump also has a reason to defend Saudi Arabia for business reasons. By his own admission, he’s done millions and millions of dollars worth of business there.
Son-in-law Jared Kushner also has a massive amount of business dealings in Saudi Arabia. In fact, the United States has no ambassador accredited in Riyadh. Instead, the relationship is in the hands of Kushner, which in itself could be a massive financial conflict.
Trump registered eight companies during his presidential campaign that were tied to hotel interests in Saudi Arabia.