CNN is out with a breaking report that Saudi Arabia is expected to announce that “Jamal Khashoggi’s death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong.”
Khashoggi is the Washington Post journalist who is widely believed to have been killed October 2, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
President Trump Monday morning told reporters he has spoken with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who assured him the country had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s murder.
Turkey has claimed a team of about 15 men were dispatched to the consulate to murder Khashoggi and used a bone saw to dismember his body after he was tortured.
“It wasn’t like there was a question in his mind. The denial was very strong,” CNN reported Trump telling reporters Monday morning. He repeatedly added that the Saudi King “firmly denied any knowledge.”
“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers, who knows. We are going to try to get to the bottom of it very soon,” Trump continued. “But his was a flat denial.”
Trump also tweeted out the denial:
Professor of International Relations and National Security at the Naval War College David Burbach weighs in: