The HILL - BY ELLEN MITCHELL -
Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday said the administration is looking for more information regarding the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose killing has been linked to the country's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday said the administration is looking for more information regarding the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose killing has been linked to the country's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
“We are continuing to review. I am quite satisfied we will find more evidence of what happened,” Mattis told reporters Wednesday en route to Canada.
“I just don't know yet what it's going to be or who's going to be implicated, but we will follow it as far as we can,” he said according to a Pentagon transcript released Thursday.
Mattis's latest comments come as lawmakers slam the administration for failing to acknowledge proof that they say leaves little doubt of the crown prince’s involvement.
The Pentagon chief late last month he said that there was “no smoking gun” linking the bin Salman to the death of Khashoggi, who who was critical of the Saudi government in his columns in The Washington Post. Khashoggi was killed in October when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The CIA later reportedly concluded that bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s death.
After being briefed behind closed doors by CIA chief Gina Haspel, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that “There’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw,” referencing Mattis's earlier comment.
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