Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who insisted last week that there was “no smoking gun” linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, appears to be backtracking.
In comments to reporters traveling with him to Canada, Mattis said the question of the crown prince’s complicity is still unresolved.
“We are continuing to review. I am quite satisfied we will find more evidence of what happened,” Mattis said Wednesday.
“I just don’t know yet what it’s going to be or who’s going to be implicated, but we will follow it as far as we can,” he said according to a transcript released by the Pentagon Thursday.
Senators who were briefed by CIA Director Gina Haspel Tuesday were nearly unanimous in their conclusion that there was little doubt Crown Prince Mohammed was involved, and many felt mislead by the equivocation offered by Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a briefing to the full Senate last week.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he thought both Mattis and Pompeo were “being good soldiers,” and “being technical in their statement” to support President Trump, but insisted the evidence was overwhelming.
“I think the reason they don’t draw the conclusion that he’s complicit is because the administration doesn’t want to go down that road,” the South Carolina Republican said. But he added, “I would really question somebody’s judgment if they couldn’t figure this out.”
Questioned by reporters, Mattis insisted he was just being careful, “If I say something, I need the evidence.”
“There are sincere, studious people who are drawing different conclusions. We are doing everything we can to go down every rabbit hole to find what’s there,” Mattis said. “So just bear with us. When we speak, it’ll be with the authority and I will not speculate or draw premature conclusions, but we are leaving no stone unturned.”
