According to US intelligence agencies, Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident and journalist, was murdered inside the Saudi Consulate in Turkey. Now President Trump is floating excuses for a nation he feels compelled to defend.
Trump said today that he spoke with the King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and that the ruler denied any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi.
(Because when a King’s nephew orders a hit on someone he knows about it, and willingly tells anyone who calls.)
After the call, Trump said it was possible that “rogue killers” were behind the disappearance.
“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers — who knows,” Trump said.
Yes, rouge killers who sneak into the Saudi Consulate to murder a journalist who, low and behold, has been harshly critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In truth, the crown prince ordered an operation to lure the Washington Post columnist back to Saudi Arabia from his home in Virginia and then detain him, according to U.S. intelligence intercepts of Saudi officials discussing the plan.
The intelligence, described by U.S. officials familiar with it, is another piece of evidence implicating the Saudi regime in Khashoggi’s disappearance last week after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish officials say that a Saudi security team lay in wait for the journalist and killed and dismembered him.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker told reporters, “there is no question the Saudis did this.”
Senate Democrats also quickly hit back at Trump’s suggestion.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that by floating the idea that “rogue killers” were to blame, Trump had been enlisted as a “PR agent” for Saudi Arabia.
“Been hearing the ridiculous ‘rogue killers’ theory was where the Saudis would go with this. Absolutely extraordinary they were able to enlist the President of the United States as their PR agent to float it,” Murphy said in a tweet.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), another member of the panel, added that Trump’s rhetoric was “insulting.”
“President Trump’s response to Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance reveals a man more willing to trust authoritarian leaders than reliable intelligence,” Kaine said.
Khashoggi, of course, is 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.”
In Khashoggi, Trump is tasked with seeking answers about a contributor to a newspaper he regularly lumps into those latter categories.
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.