Kushner taking wait-and-see approach

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has a strong relationship with the Saudi crown prince, said Monday that White House officials have their “eyes wide open” about the investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The critic of the Saudi royal family, who was living in exile in the United States, died at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul this month.

Saudi Arabia said Khashoggi was killed in a “fistfight.” Turkish media and officials say the 59-year-old Washington Post columnist was attacked by a 15-man Saudi team.

“We have our eyes wide open,” Kushner, a presidential adviser who has developed ties with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told CNN.

“We’re getting facts Kushner in from multiple places and once those facts come in, the secretary of state will work with our national security team to help us determine what we want to believe, what we think is credible and what we think is not credible,” Kushner said.

Kushner added that “we have to be able to work with our allies, and Saudi Arabia has, I think, been a very strong ally.”

Over the weekend, Trump played down Kushner’s relations with Saudi Arabia and the crown prince.

“Jared doesn’t do business with Saudi Arabia. They’re two young guys. Jared doesn’t know him well or anything,” he said. “They are just two young people. They are the same age. They like each other, I believe. Jared has done a very good job. I think he’ll make peace with Israel. But there are a lot of setbacks. This is a setback for that.”