CIA Director convinces senators MbS responsible for having Khashoggi killed

The Hill is reporting on the reactions of a group of Senate leaders from national security-related committees who had a special closed-door briefing about the Jamal Khashoggi killing from CIA Director Gina Haspel.   She had not participated in the briefing last week from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Several influential senators in the group spoke with reporters Rebecca Kheel and Jordain Carney from The Hill, saying that they were now more certain than ever that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was responsible for the killing.    Sen. Lindsey Graham said:   "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 that he was intricately involved."

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said:  "I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder and was kept apprised of the situation all the way through."   Corker added that, "If MbS was in front of a jury, he would have a unanimous verdict in about 30 minutes. . . .  a guilty verdict."

So what happens now?    This puts Republican senate leaders at odds with President Trump, who has refused to acknowledge the crown prince's role, saying that "we may never know all the facts. . . .  maybe he did and maybe he didn't."  Instead, he has focused more or the Saudi kingdom as a good customer for our military hardware that we don't want to alienate or lose.

Trump sees this only in his usual transactional terms, essentially saying that 'one murder is not worth the loss of all those business deals.'    He has no concept of values as part of the equation.

Last week, the Senate voted for a resolution requiring the president to remove any U.S. troops involved in the Saudi war in Yemen, unless they are fighting al Qaeda.   The sponsors are now considering whether any changes need to be made to this, while Sen. Graham plans to introduce a separate resolution that would put the Senate on record as blaming the crown prince for the murder -- a major rebuke to a U.S. ally.

In short, a battle is looming between Senate leaders of both parties and the president.   It's unlikely that the lame-duck House Republicans will allow this to pass . . .  but it's only a few weeks until Democrats will take control of the House.

Ralph