President Donald Trump said on Thanksgiving Day that the CIA has not 'concluded' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.
'Whether he did or whether he didn't, he denies it vehemently,' Trump said of the prince to reporters after he spoke on the phone with U.S. troops. 'The CIA doesn't say they did it. They do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn't.'
'The CIA points it both ways. And as I said, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I will say very strongly that it's a very important ally,' he noted of the oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
His statement contradicts reports the spy agency has determined with 'high confidence' that MBS - the crown prince is known by his initials - ordered the assassination, which contradicting the Saudi government's claims that MSB was not involved.
President Donald Trump said on Thanksgiving Day that the the CIA has not 'concluded' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder
His statement contradicts reports the CIA has concluded MSB is involved
Trump decried Khashoggi's murder, saying 'I hate the crime. I hate what was done. I hate the cover up.'
'I will tell you this the crown prince hates it more than I do,' he added.
And when asked who should be blamed for Khashoggi's death, the president said the world itself. 'Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place,' he said. 'The world is a very very vicious place.'
The president has been defending Saudi Arabia as a 'strong ally' even as lawmakers on Capitol Hill question his take on the matter.
'Saudi Arabia has been a longtime strategic partner,' he said on Thursday. 'They're investing hundreds of billions of dollars in our country. I mean hundreds of billions. They're keeping the oil prices low.'
He added: 'Do people really want me to give up hundreds of thousands of jobs? And frankly, if we went by this standard, we wouldn't be able to have anybody who's an ally, because look at what happens all over the world.'
His latest comments come after he faces a fire storm from Capitol Hill for defending the prince - including criticism from members of his own party.
A bipartisan group of senators wrote to Trump earlier this week, asking him to investigate whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The letter from Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sets up a showdown between the White House and Capitol Hill.
It comes in the wake of Trump's statement Tuesday insisting there is no certainty bin Salman ordered the killing of the dissident journalist followed by his tweet thanking the Saudi for low oil prices.
In their letter to the White House Tuesday evening, Corker and Menendez claim the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act allows them to force the president to make a formal determination if they ask for one.
'On October 10, we sent a letter requesting that you make a determination on the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with 'respect to any foreign person responsible' for Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder,' they wrote.
President Donald Trump's equivocation on a Saudi prince's responsibility for the murder of a journalist has brought a chorus of anger from senators on both sides of the political aisle
Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey (left) and Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee (right) wrote to the White House demanding a formal declaration from the White House that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the death of Jamal Khashoggi, and said a federal law entitles them to an answer
Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, is thought to have ordered Khashoggi's killing at a Saudi embassy in istanbul last month
'In light of recent developments, including the Saudi government's acknowledgement that Saudi officials killed Mr. Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate, we request that your determination specifically address whether Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman is responsible for Mr. Khashoggi's murder.
'We expect to receive your determination within 120 days of our original request.'
Corker, never a Trump fan, tweeted his disgust on Tuesday: 'I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.'
Other Republicans have slammed the president for his statement, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally from South Carolina.
'It is not in our national security interests to look the other way when it comes to the brutal murder of Mr. Jamal #Khashoggi,' Graham tweeted.
Graham also warned he expects bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for sanctions on Saudi Arabia.
'I firmly believe there will be strong bipartisan support for serious sanctions against Saudi Arabia, including appropriate members of the royal family, for this barbaric act which defied all civilized norms,' he said.
In a scathing criticism of the president, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Democrat, Hawaii) called Trump 'Saudi Arabia's bitch' after his statement this week to stand by the country's rulers despite the murder of Khashoggi.
A chorus of GOP senators berated the president on Twitter.
Khashoggi was slaughtered at the Istanbul consulate; he was an occasional Washington Post columnist and a frequent critic of the Saudi regime
'Our foreign policy must be about promoting our national interests. It is in our natl interest to defend human rights. HR violations lead to mass migration, help extremism flourish & often result in new governments hostile towards the U.S. because we supported their oppressors,' wrote Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul slammed Trump's statement and blamed the president's national security advisor for writing it.
'I'm pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia First, not America First. I'm also pretty sure John Bolton wrote it,' Paul wrote on Twitter.
'We should, at the very least, NOT reward Saudi Arabia with our sophisticated armaments that they in turn use to bomb civilians.'
Repubican Sens. Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham also blasted the president's statement
FIRE FROM SENS. GRAHAM AND PAUL
Paul and Graham are longtime critics of Saudi Arabia, and have criticized MBS – the crown prince is known by his initials – in the past. They have also pushed for U.S. sanctions and a reduction in arms sales.
Graham said a week after Khashoggi was murdered that the crown prince had to go.
'I've been their biggest defender on floor of the United States. This guy is a wrecking ball. He had this guy murdered in consulate in Turkey,' he told Fox News in October. 'This guy has got to go.'
Paul has also called for MBS's removal.
'I feel certain the crown prince was involved and he directed this and that's why I think we cannot continue to have relations with him. I think is going to have to be replaced, frankly. But I think that sanctions don't go far enough. I think we need to look at the arm sale,' he told Fox News in late October.
Paul has been one of the most critical voices on Saudi Arabia in the Senate.
Bin Salman was appointed crown prince in 2017 by a royal decree from King Salman, an aging ruler who is thought to be a figurehead.
Trump was also slammed by Turkey, a longtime U.S. ally in the region.
'SAUDI ARABIA FIRST'
Sen. Rand Paul referenced the Saudis' war in Yemen
Turkish intelligence officials were the ones who revealed Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Instanbul on October 2 after he went there to complete paperwork to marry his Turkish finance.
The ruling party there said Trump's statement was 'comic.'
'It is not possible for an intelligence agency such as the CIA, which even knows the color of the fur on the cat walking around the Saudi consulate's garden … to not know who gave this order,' said Numan Kurtulmus, deputy chairman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's political party, according to Reuters. 'This is not credible either for US public opinion or the world public opinion.'
'COMIC STATEMENT'
'Yesterday's statement is a comic statement,' he added.
President Trump on Tuesday said that he was still open to sanctions that could be imposed by Congress in the lame duck session but would only support them if they were in the United States' national security interests.
He insisted, 'The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone.'
Yet, the U.S. president said he would take no further action because the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia is too valuable.
'That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,' he again asserted.
'Barbaric act'
Sen. Marco Rubio also weighed in
His statement, sent early Tuesday afternoon, claimed, 'They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.'
It went against a reported CIA assessment that it was high probable bin Salman ordered the journalist's murder.
And it also serves to prop up MBS, who is a close ally of Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, at a time when the top of the wider Saudi royal family is no longer united in backing him.
One of his uncles is being suggested as the next king by other family members, leaving MBS more politically exposed than he had been before the furor over the murder.
Trump's stunning statement came hours before the president was due to depart the White House for a family holiday at Mar-a-Lago.
And it was just days after the president admitted he had not listened to an audio tape provided by the Turkish government of Khashoggi's murder, because it was too gruesome.
'VERY VIOLENT, VERY VICIOUS'
'It was very violent, very vicious and terrible,' Trump told told Fox News on Friday.
Turmp said then that he didn't know if MBS was lying to him when he told him that he had no knowledge of the murder.
In the interview for Fox News Sunday the president replied: 'Well, will anybody really know? All right, will anybody really know? But he did have certainly people that were reasonably close to him and close to him that were probably involved.'
Vice President Mike Pence had told reporters while he was in Australia that the U.S would hold 'all of those who are responsible' for the murder accountable.
'The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an atrocity. It was also an affront to a free and independent press and the United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder,' Pence told reporters traveling with him on Saturday.
Trump then released a puzzling statement defending the Saudis and the crown prince.
'King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi,' he again pointed out.
It was more love than MBS was getting from inside the royal family.
BATTLE FOR SUCCESSION
Sources close to the royal court told Reuters that princes and cousins from inside the Al Saud family are asking for a change in the line of succession. They acknowledged that the 82-year-old king is unlikely to ditch his son, however.
A Washington Post report over the weekend said the U.S. had high confidence in a CIA assessment that MBS would have been knowledgeable about events happening in the kingdom he effectively rules.
The CIA's confidence level was lifted, CNN reported, after receiving an audio tape provided to the U.S. by the Turkish government earlier this month.
TRUMP'S STUNNING PRO-SAUDI STATEMENT ON TUESDAY
America First!
'The world is a very dangerous place!
'The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq's fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, 'Death to America!' and 'Death to Israel!' Iran is considered 'the world's leading sponsor of terror.'
'On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.
'After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries - and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!
'The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed, we have taken strong action against those already known to have participated in the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body.
'Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an 'enemy of the state' and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn't!
'That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!
'I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction - and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world. As President of the United States I intend to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First!'
Khashoggi can be heard ordering his killers to release him in the audio recording of his murder, before one of the killers shouts: 'Traitor! You will be brought to account,' according to Turkish media.
In Saudi Arabia, the Khashoggi murder has opened an opportunity to seize power from the Crown Prince.
Members of the House of Saud are seeking to find an alternative successor to the throne and prevent MBS from becoming king, sources close to the royal court said.
A preferred candidate is Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, 76, younger full brother of King Salman and uncle to the crown prince.
King Salman's only surviving brother flirted with power in London in October as he appeared to distance himself from the king and crown prince over the Khashoggi murder.
Prince Ahmed was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling family's senior members, who opposed MBS becoming crown prince in 2017, two Saudi sources said at the time.
Unlike European monarchies the House of Saud is made up of hundreds of princes, with the power of succession drawn across tribal lines, rather than automatically going to the eldest son.
Each branch of the dynasty is consulted before a new king succeeds.
Link hienalouca.comhttps://hienalouca.com/2018/11/23/trump-claims-the-cia-has-not-concluded-the-crown-prince-ordered-the-death-of-khashoggi/
Main photo article President Donald Trump said on Thanksgiving Day that the CIA has not ‘concluded’ Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
‘Whether he did or whether he didn’t, he denies it vehemently,’ Trump said of...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/22/15/6522184-0-image-a-1_1542901012515.jpg
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