U.S. senators urge swift action if Saudi Arabia guilty

Reaction to Khashoggi death ‘can’t be just words’: Rubio

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators called Sunday for swift and united action against Saudi Arabia if the United States determines that Saudi agents killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

One Republican said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should refuse to attend an economic summit in Riyadh this month until the facts are clear.

“I don’t think we should continue with business as usual until we know what happened here,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I don’t think he should go,” Rubio said when asked about Mnuchin’s plan to attend the conference.

Khashoggi, whose writings criticized the Saudi government, has not been seen since Oct. 2.

That day, he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document for his upcoming wedding.

Turkish authorities say a team of Saudis killed him, but the Saudi government has denied involvement.

President Donald Trump, in excerpts of an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” released Saturday, promised “severe punishment” for Saudi Arabia if the country is found responsible.

But he said cancelling arms sales to the kingdom, one proposed response, would be “very foolish” and would ultimately harm U.S. industries.

Rubio suggested Trump should not rule out the possibility.

“Every option needs to be there in a response,” Rubio said.

The senator, a member of the foreign relations and intelligence committees, vowed that if Saudi Arabia is found guilty of Khashoggi’s death and the Trump administration does not respond, Congress would step in.

“It can’t be symbolic,” Rubio said of the administration’s response. “It can’t be just words.”

Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also called for a robust response if the Saudi government is found responsible, including limiting or suspending arms sales and reconsidering U.S. involvement in the civil war in Yemen.

“Severe action needs to be taken,” Flake said on ABC News’s “This Week.”

He said the Saudis’ explanation for Khashoggi’s disappearance “just isn’t plausible.”

Former CIA director John Brennan agreed.

“If Khashoggi had disappeared in Turkey when he was at a hotel or a private residence, I think there is plausible deniability on the part of the Saudi government. But he disappeared when there is video evidence of him being at the consulate,” Brennan said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

“Their denials ring hollow, very much ring hollow,” he said.