Two key US Republican senators said a Tuesday briefing by the CIA’s director only strengthened their conviction that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince directed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The explosive new declarations by members of President Donald Trump’s own party run counter to the White House narrative downplaying possible links between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the October killing of journalist and palace critic Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
US newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, have reported that the CIA has evidence that Prince Mohammed exchanged 11 messages with his close aide Saud al-Qahtani, who allegedly oversaw the murder, just before and after it took place.
Some of the most important evidence may be an audio recording of the murder that Turkey said it has distributed. Graham said that was not played in Tuesday’s briefing.
The Saudi government went into damage control mode, with a spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy, Fatimah Baeshen, saying the kingdom maintains its “steadfast” commitment to the US-Saudi relationship and does “categorically reject” accusations linking the prince to the killing.
