Sen. Lindsey Graham slammed the Trump administration Tuesday for refusing to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
Graham, R-S.C., said CIA Director Gina Haspel left no doubt during a briefing with a small group of senators that the crown prince, known as MBS, is responsible for the Oct. 2 murder of Khashoggi. The killing took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Khashoggi was then dismembered with a saw, and his body has not been recovered.
Haspel’s briefing clashed with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis, who last week told the Senate there is nothing to directly tie the crown prince to the murder.
[Read: GOP senators think Saudi’s crown prince is guilty of Khashoggi murder after CIA briefing]
“I think Secretaries Pompeo and Mattis are following the lead of the president,” Graham said. “There is not a smoking gun, there is a smoking saw. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi.”
Graham said if Mattis and Pompeo were working for a Democratic president, he would be far more critical of their judgment. He chalked up their assessment to a decision to act as “good soldiers” for the Trump administration.
The administration, Graham said, “doesn’t want to go down that road,” in order to preserve the critical alliance between the two countries.
President Trump has ordered sanctions on 17 Saudi officials but has publicly declined to punish the crown prince because of the financial and security advantages provided by the alliance.
Graham said he understands the importance of the relationship but added, “I’m not going to blow past this.”
Graham plans to introduce a sense of the Senate resolution holding the crown prince responsible for Khashoggi’s death and said he would not back arms sales to the country until Crown Prince Mohammed is no longer in power.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was not as critical of Pompeo or Mattis. He suggested the CIA has provided new intelligence about Khashoggi’s death since Pompeo and Mattis briefed lawmakers last week.
“There is no doubt in my mind MBS ordered, carried out, and knew what was happening all along,” Corker said.
