BUDAPEST, Hungary — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that his administration is “covering up” Saudi Arabia’s murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi after lawmakers in both parties condemned his latest response to Congress.
“America is not covering up for a murder,” Pompeo told reporters Monday at the U.S. embassy in Hungary’s capital. “America has taken more action in response to the tragic murder of Jamal Khashoggi and will continue to take more action, continue our investigation.”
Pompeo was on the defensive three days after delivering a brief note to lawmakers in lieu of a full report on the question of whether Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bears responsibility for the grisly execution that his aides orchestrated in Istanbul in October. Pompeo’s two-paragraph reply didn’t satisfy prominent Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who want the administration to take a more forceful stance. A leading Republican congressman argued that Pompeo flouted the law on Friday when he sent a missive instead of the report Congress had been awaiting for four months.
“The letter does not meet the requirements of the ‘Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,’ which were invoked by letters from the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate foreign policy committees last October,” Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a weekend statement, adding he was “deeply troubled” by Pompeo’s letter. “I call on the Administration to immediately comply with the requirements of the law, and to provide Congress with the information required.”
The Saudi monarchy claims that Khashoggi was executed in a Saudi diplomatic facility in Turkey as part of a “rogue operation” without the young royal’s knowledge.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, also faulted Pompeo for declining to assess whether the crown prince had ordered his underlings to carry out the crime. “This amounts to the Trump Administration aiding in the cover up of a murder,” Kaine said Sunday. “America should never descend to this level of moral bankruptcy.”
“I like Senator Kaine; I have a lot of respect for Senator Kaine. Senator Kaine is just dead wrong,” Pompeo responded from Budapest. “As the President has been very clear, couldn’t have been more clear, as we get additional information we’ll continue to hold all of those responsible accountable.”
But McCaul made clear that simply releasing another statement won’t shelter Pompeo from bipartisan reproof. “Jamal’s murder was appalling. The lesson of this terrible event needs to be that intimidation and violence by any government against peaceful dissent will be met with strong disapproval by responsible nations,” the Republican said. “When the United States fails to lead, we compromise our integrity and abandon those pursuing justice around the world.”
