The CIA, in 2018, concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who was sitting beside Donald Trump at an Oval Office photo op today – ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident who had been targeted by the royal family.
Khashoggi was murdered, dismembered with a bone saw, under direct orders from bin Salman.
That’s the official word, again, from the CIA – from 2018, when the CIA was under the thumb of Trump, right?
Trump, today, answering a question from ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce, on the Khashoggi murder, with bin Salman sitting beside him, predictably attacked the reporter for asking the question, then played the victim-blaming game.
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said of Khashoggi, who, again, was murdered, dismembered with a bone saw, under orders from the guy sitting to his right.
But then, the guy sitting to his right does business with the Trump family.
Keep that one in mind.
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“Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said, the “him” there being Khashoggi, “but he” – this “he” being Mohammed bin Salman – “knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”
It shouldn’t have to be pointed out, but in case it does, Mohammed bin Salman wasn’t the guest of the news media in attendance at the photo-op, or the American people writ large.
Trump is free to have whoever he wants to have at his place of residence, including a guy who ordered the murder, with a bone saw, of a political rival.
Credit to Mary Bruce, new national hero, for asking the question.
We need more people like her to put the evil face on what is being done in our name.
Update: Tuesday, 3:24 p.m. We just got this statement on the Trump/Khashoggi matter from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate last month to commemorate the seventh anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder.
“President Trump’s refusal today to condemn the Saudi Crown Prince’s role in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder is disgusting, and his comment that MBS ‘knew nothing about it’ goes against what our own intelligence agencies have found. Those involved in the killing of Khashoggi, who was a Virginia resident and journalist, should be held responsible,” said Kaine. “Instead of rolling out the red carpet for MBS and leveraging the presidency for private hotel deals, Trump should be demanding accountability on behalf of Khashoggi’s Virginia-based family and pressing Saudi Arabia to advance U.S. security interests. Unfortunately, this is just the most recent example of Trump placing his personal financial interests above the interest of the American people.”
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Chris Graham
