The CEO and publisher of the Washington Post ripped President Trump Tuesday after the White House released a statement defending Saudi Arabia, even after the intelligence community concluded with “high confidence” that the kingdom’s crown prince was involved with the death of dissent journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“President Trump is correct in saying the world is a very dangerous place. His surrender to this state-ordered murder will only make it more so. An innocent man, brutally slain, deserves better, as does the cause of truth and justice and human rights,” Washington Post executive Fred Ryan wrote in a statement.
“In this failure of leadership from President Trump, it now falls to Congress to stand up for America’s true values and lasting values,” Ryan said.
Statement from Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan in response to President Trump’s statement today regarding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. pic.twitter.com/JJzw9yaU6Z
— Washington Post PR (@WashPostPR) November 20, 2018
Ahead of the expected release of a CIA report into Khashoggi’s disappearance, Trump Tuesday suggested it was hard to determine whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman did issue an order that Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident, be killed. The Saudi government, which enjoys a close relationship with the Trump administration, has vehemently denied the claim.
Ryan on Tuesday called on Trump to immediately make public any evidence that would cast doubt on the CIA’s findings.
“He is placing personal relationships and commercial interests above American interests in his desire to continue to do business as usual with the crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,” Ryan added.
The U.S. government has sanctioned 17 Saudis believed to be linked to Khashoggi’s death. Over the past few weeks, 11 people have also been charged by Saudi prosecutors after being implicated in the plot to murder the critic of the Saudi royal court, five of whom face the death penalty.
