Apparent Khashoggi double made to create false trail
Trump ‘not satisfied’ with Saudi explanations for journalist’s death
ISTANBUL — Surveillance video recorded by Turkish law enforcement appears to confirm reports that Saudi agents used a body double as part of an attempted coverup after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The video — obtained and broadcast by CNN on Monday — purportedly shows a Saudi agent walking out of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul wearing Khashoggi’s clothes, as well as spectacles and a fake beard, in an apparent attempt to disguise himself as the slain Saudi journalist.
The video was released as pressure intensified on Saudi officials to explain what happened to Khashoggi, 59, a critic of the Saudi government who had been living in self-exile in Virginia and was in Istanbul to obtain documents for the pending marriage to his Turkish fiancée.
After denying any knowledge of Khashoggi’s death, the Saudi government reversed course Saturday, saying he had accidentally been killed in the consulate after an altercation with a team sent to negotiate his return.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to reveal details of an extensive investigation into the death Tuesday. Turkish investigators have alleged that 15 Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for the Washington Post, soon after he entered the consulate in Istanbul three weeks ago.
President Donald Trump has swung between accepting the Saudi account of Khashoggi’s death and complaining of “deception” and “lies” from the kingdom.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump said he was “not satisfied” with what he has heard about who is responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met Monday in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
There have been growing questions in recent days about what role, if any, Mohammed played in the murder plot. Twelve of the 15 members of what Turkish officials call a hit squad dispatched to kill Khashoggi have ties to the Saudi security services, and several have connections to the crown prince.
In New York, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a White House adviser, said in an interview at a CNN conference Monday that he has advised Mohammed to be fully “transparent.”
Kushner declined to say whether he believes the Saudi account of Khashoggi’s death, saying the administration was still “in the fact-finding phase.”
Trump said that top U.S. intelligence officials were in Turkey, suggesting they were trying to assess the information the Turks have gathered. CIA Director Gina Haspel departed for Turkey on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.
Saudi officials have so far refused to say what happened to Khashoggi’s remains, one of many questions raised about their explanation for the killing.