Senate leaders will be briefed this week by Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel about the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, according to a new report.
The briefing will happen Tuesday, a move that comes after some lawmakers complained that she had not participated in a briefing last week with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the Wall Stree Journal reports.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in an interview with CNN that Haspel’s absence raised a “serious question as to whether this administration is giving us the whole truth.”
Khashoggi was last seen on Oct. 2 entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to receive paperwork for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiancee. Saudi Arabia first said he had left the consulate alive, but later admitted he had been killed by a hit squad.
A highly classified CIA report claims he was killed per the instructions of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Washington Post first reported last month. But President Trump cast doubt on the report, saying, “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.” The Saudi government has denied Crown Prince Mohammed was involved in Khashoggi’s death.
The Journal reported Saturday that Crown Prince Mohammed sent at least 11 messages before and after Khashoggi’s death to his top adviser, who supervised the team who conducted the attack against Khashoggi.
The Saudi government reportedly attempted for at least a year to persuade Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the crown prince and the Saudi government, to return to his home country. Although he was offered several job opportunities, he rejected them over concern that he would face imprisonment or worse.
