CNN and NBC say Saudis admit journalist was killed -- but say it was an interrogation gone wrong.

Two sources have told CNN that journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death "was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, one that was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey."   In other words, the story they're concocting is that the murderers were "rogue killers," and it was not part of the plan.   NBC has now been able to confirm the story that this is the cover-up they're constructing -- and President Trump seems to be helping them, having himself referred to "rogue killers" shortly after his call to King Salman.

Wow!!   If they're admitting that they were going to kidnap him, then the truth must be as bad as what we've been hearing.     'Oh, dear.   We didn't really mean to kill him, just abduct him and take him back to Saudi soil" . . .  and then do what, please?

Khashoggi is a Saudi himself, who was once close to the royal family.   But in recent years, he had become increasingly a critic.   As a journalist, he had gotten residency status in the U.S., and he wrote for the Washington Post.

He had gone to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2nd to pick up some documents concerning a previous divorce that would allow him to marry again.   His fiancee was waiting outside the consulate while he went in, expecting to be back out in a few minutes.   He never came out and has not been seen since. Now, some are suggesting that this was a lure concocted by the Saudis to get him and abduct him.  He had been told to go to the consulate on that particular day to pick up the documents.

Reports have also said that two private planes carrying fifteen Saudi men had arrived in Istanbul just prior to this.   The implication was that this was a hit squad, carrying among other things a bone saw -- implying that his body was dismembered so that it could be whisked out of the embassy without arousing suspicion.  Turkish officials claim that they have audio and video recordings of him being interrogated and then murdered.   They have not yet made them public. 

This new report from CNN follows days of denial from the Saudi government that it had any connection with the incident.  Experts who know the Saudis well say that nothing happens in that country without it coming from the very top -- i.e., the rulers themselves:   King Salman and the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- and increasingly it's the young prince who calls the shots.  

President Trump did acknowledge what a terrible thing this was, if true.   But yesterday he placed a call to the Saudi King and reported back that the king absolutely denied that his government had anything to do with this.     As with Putin's denial of having anything to do with the email hacking, and with Kavanaugh's denial of assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, Trump so easily seems to accept a denial from an accused man -- if he is vehement enough in the denial.   He always emphasizes how "firm" or how "strong" was the denial.

But there are wiser heads than Trump's in this.   His motivation seems to center on not wanting to lose the huge sums of money the Saudis spend buying military weapons and planes from us.   He "would hate to lose that."   There's also the fact that both Trump and Jared Kushner have huge, personal financial ties to the Saudis -- loans and investments from the Saudis that might be jeopardized, or that give the Saudis some control over them.

Many business leaders are pulling out of a Davos-like conference upcoming in Riyadh, part of the young crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to wean his country off oil and diversify into a more balanced economy -- as well as to claim a spot on the world's stage of important investors.

There are multiple geopolitical implications here.   Trump's first overseas trip as president was not to the traditional Mexico or Canada or European allies but to Saudi Arabia, where he was royally feted and his ego pumped up by his image projected onto tall buildings.

Jared Kushner also seemed to have made a close friend in the young crown prince, the 33 year old MBS, as he is referred to.   He has made several trips back to the area, including one in which reportedly the two of them sat up half the night talking and cementing their friendship -- and possibly conferring about the MBS's planned extortion of money from wealthy family members and other businessmen that occurred shortly after Jared's visit.

What we are seeing here is the ruthlessness of not only King Salman but the Crown Prince as well.    Khashoggi had apparently written articles very critical of MBS, who reportedly has a very thin skin when criticized.

Looks like Trump may have gotten us into another geopolitical mess.  Just  how much is he in on the planning, as well as apparently participating in the cover-up in order to maintain his and our country financial ties to these people?   He did just talk with King Salman shortly before he himself began using the phrase "rogue killers" and spouting the same story line.

Trump is once again showing that he has no concern for the moral or human rights aspects of agreement -- it's all transactional:   what am I going to get out of this deal?   He would literally swap the truth and any morality for  keeping the arms deal and for whatever he personally owes the wealthy Saudis.

Ralph