Senate Democrats on Tuesday quickly condemned President Trump’s announcement that he is standing by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite the widespread belief the royal ordered the killing of dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., former chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she’ll vote against arm sales to Saudi Arabia, a move that many lawmakers will likely follow, after Trump’s statement.
“I’m shocked that President Trump said there will be no punishment for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi,” Feinstein said in a statement released shortly after Trump announced his decision to sidestep punishment.
“The facts are clear. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and columnist for a U.S. newspaper, was killed by agents of the Saudi government in a Saudi consulate,” she said. “This was a premeditated murder, plain and simple.”
In a statement Tuesday, Trump said he it was possible the prince knew about the killing or even ordered it but there was no clear evidence. “Maybe he did or maybe he didn’t!” Trump said.
Trump said the alliance between the two nations, long valued by the United States, is too important to throw away.
[Opinion: Trump’s mealy-mouthed statement on the Jamal Khashoggi murder is actually prudent]
“The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel, and all other partners in the region,” he said. “It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!”
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the intelligence panel, also criticized Trump.
“Under Donald Trump’s reasoning, there is no atrocity Saudi Arabia can commit that will lead the U.S. to act independently, according to our own values and interests,” Wyden said.
Wyden will introduce a bill next week that would make public the intelligence community findings in relation to Khashoggi’s killing.
“President Trump has sided with a murderous regime over patriotic American intelligence officials,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., added Tuesday. “In light of this latest failure by the President to stand up for the U.S. on the world stage, it’s now on Congress to take action by cutting off arms sales, ending support for the disastrous war in Yemen, and demanding true accountability for the Saudi regime’s murder of a Virginia resident and continued human rights abuses.”
Khashoggi, who wrote columns for the Washington Post, was killed last month in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. U.S. intelligence reports indicate he was killed by Saudi operatives under orders from the crown prince, the Washington Post reported.
But the crown prince denied involvement and has ordered the execution of 15 Saudis responsible for killing Khashoggi.
