Karen Attiah, the editor for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi at The Washington Post, is calling for Congress to investigate President Trump and Jared Kushner for ties to Saudi Arabia.
“It’s easy to get lost in the grief and outrage over Trump siding [with] Saudi regime that thinks nothing of butchering peaceful journalists in consulates,” Attiah wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “But hope is not all lost. Congress must act, and the American people can still help.”
Attiah listed several ways that Congress could act, including declassifying the CIA report that concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s killing, sharing CIA intelligence on the kingdom and investigating Trump and Kushner’s financial relationship with Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday in a statement Trump said that he would maintain the “steadfast” alliance with Saudi Arabia, making it clear that the president does not want Khashoggi’s murder to disrupt the relationship between the two nations.
{mosads}In the same statement, Trump refused to blame the crown prince for Khashoggi’s killing, even though the CIA has reportedly concluded that the prince ordered it.
Attiah called Trump’s statement “full of lies and a blatant disregard for his own intelligence agencies.”
“It also shows an unforgivable disregard for the lives of Saudis who dare criticize the regime. This is a new low,” she added.
Khashoggi, a sharp critic of the Saudi government, was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The kingdom has admitted he was killed by a team that met him when he arrived at the building but has insisted the crown prince had no knowledge of the operation.
Trump last month pushed back on suggestions he is reluctant to punish the Saudis because of business ties.
“For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter),” Trump tweeted.
Trump has had business dealings with the Saudis in the past, including the sale of a yacht and a hotel stake to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in the 1990s.