Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday said the US doesn’t have a “smoking gun” connecting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey — even though the CIA has concluded the royal directed the journalist’s killing.
“We have no smoking gun the crown prince was involved, not the intelligence community or anyone else. There is no smoking gun,” Mattis said, adding that the US would still hold those responsible for the Washington Post columnist’s death accountable.
Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to brief senators on the situation around Khashoggi before an expected vote on Thursday about whether to cut aid to
Saudi Arabia for its war in Yemen.
Both administration officials argued against suspending aid to Saudi, who they called a steadfast ally in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting, Pompeo said he’s read all of the classified intelligence about the death of Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
“There is no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the order the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And that’s all I can say in an unclassified setting,” he said.
Conspicuously absent from the briefing was CIA Director Gina Haspel.
She had traveled to Turkey as part of the investigation and listened to an audio tape that Turkish officials say captured the sounds of Saudi officials killing Khashoggi.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, was so vexed by Haspel’s absence that he threatened to withhold his vote from the spending bill.
“If that briefing is not given soon, it’s going to be hard for me to vote for any spending bill,” the South Carolina lawmaker said.
Pompeo was asked why Haspel didn’t accompany him and Mattis.
“I was asked to be here, and here I am,” he said.