U.S. implicates Saudi crown prince in killing

Mohammed bin Salman likely approved killing of U.s.-based journalist

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince likely approved the killing of U.s.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday. The finding could escalate pressure on the Biden administration to hold the kingdom accountable for a murder that drew widespread outrage in the U.S. and abroad.

The public blaming of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amounted to an extraordinary rebuke and was likely to set the tone for the new administration’s relationship with a country President Joe Biden has criticized but which the White House also regards in some contexts as a strategic partner.

The conclusion that the prince approved an operation to kill or capture Khashoggi, a critic of his authoritarian consolidation of power, was based on what intelligence officials know about his role in decision-making inside the kingdom as well as the involvement of one of his key advisers, Saud alqahtani, and members of his protective detail, according to the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Officials also factored in the prince’s past support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, the report said.

As Democrats in Congress clamored for aggressive action, the State Department responded by announcing visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals involved in threatening dissidents abroad.

“As a matter of safety for all within our borders, perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be permitted to reach American soil,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The declassified document was released one day after a later-than-usual courtesy call from Biden to Saudi King Salman, though a White House summar y of the conversation made no mention of the killing and said instead that the men had discussed the countries’ longstanding par tnership. The kingdom’s staterun Saudi Press Agency similarly did not mention Khashoggi’s killing in its report about the call, rather focusing on regional issues such as Iran and the ongoing war in Yemen.

The milder tone on the call was in contrast to Biden’s pledge as a candidate to make Saudi Arabia “a pariah” over the killing.

Once in of fice, Biden has said he would maintain whatever scale of relations with Saudi Arabia that U.S. interests required. He also ordered an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and said he would stop the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. He’s given few details of what weapons and support he meant.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that the administration has been clear that it will “recalibrate our relationship” with Saudi Arabia.

Democrats, meanwhile, pressed for strong action.

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, urged the Biden administration to make sure the report leads to “serious repercussions against all of the responsible par ties it has identified, and also reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia.” And Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and Intelligence Committee member, called for consequences for the prince — such as sanctions — as well as for the Saudi kingdom as a whole.

Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate to pick up documents needed for his wedding. Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officials and others who had assembled ahead of his arrival. Surveillance cameras had tracked his route and those of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours leading up to his killing.

A Turkish bug planted at the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a forensic saw, operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensics expert, dismembering Khashoggi’s body within an hour of his entering the building. The whereabouts of his remains remain unknown.

The prince said in 2019 he took “full responsibility” for the killing since it happened on his watch, but denied ordering it. Saudi officials have said Khashoggi’s killing was the work of rogue Saudi security and intelligence of ficials. Saudi Arabian courts last year announced they had sentenced eight Saudi nationals to prison in Khashoggi’s killing. They were not identified.

HOUSTON — President Joe Biden heard firsthand from Texans clobbered by this month’s brutal winter weather on Friday and pledged to stick with them “for the long haul” as he made his first trip to a major disaster area since he took of fice.

Biden was briefed by emergency officials and thanked workers for doing “God’s work.” He promised the federal government will be there for Texans as they tr y to recover, not just from the historic storm but also the public health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“When a crisis hits our states, like the one that hit Texas, it’s not a Republican or Democrat that’s hurting,” Biden said. “It’s our fellow Americans that are hurting and it’s out job to help ever yone in need.”

With tens of thousands of Houston area residents without safe water, local officials told Biden that many are still struggling. While he was briefed, first lady Jill Biden joined an assembly line of volunteers packing boxes of quick oats, juice, and other food at the Houston Food Bank, where he arrived later.

The president’s first stop was the Harris County Emergency Operations Center for a briefing from acting FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton and state and local emergency management officials.

Texas was hit par ticularly hard by the Valentine’s weekend storm that battered multiple states. Unusually frigid conditions led to widespread power outages and frozen pipes that burst and flooded homes. Millions of residents lost heat and running water.

At least 40 people in Texas died as a result of the storm and, although the weather has returned to more normal temperatures, more than 1 million residents are still under orders to boil water before drinking it.

“The president has made very clear to us that in crises like this, it is our duty to organize prompt and competent federal support to American citizens, and we have to ensure that bureaucracy and politics do not stand in the way,” said Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sher wood-randall, who accompanied Biden to Houston.

Biden was joined for much of his visit by Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn, both Republicans, four Democratic Houstonarea members of Congress and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

The president also stopped by a mass coronavirus vaccination center at NRG Stadium that is run by the federal government. Biden on Thursday commemorated the 50 millionth COVID-19 vaccination since he took office, halfway toward his goal of 100 million shots by his 100th day in office. That celebration followed a moment of silence to mark the passage earlier this week of 500,000 U.S. deaths blamed on the disease.

Democrat Biden suggested that he and Republicans Abbott and Cornyn could find common cause in getting Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible.

“We disagree on plenty of things,” Biden said.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are plenty of things we can work on together. And one of them is represented right here today, the effort to speed up vaccinations.”

Texas’ other U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, an ally of former President Donald Trump and one of a handful of GOP lawmakers who had objected to Congress certifying Biden’s victor y, was in Florida Friday addressing the Conser vative Political Action Conference.

Cruz, who has been criticized for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico, while millions of Texans shivered in unheated homes, later said the trip was a mistake, but he made light of the controversy on Friday. “Orlando is awesome,” he said to laughs and hoots. “It’s not as nice as Cancun. But’s nice.”

At the peak of the storm, more than 1.4 million residents were without power and 3.5 million were under boil-water notices in the nation’s third largest county.

Post-storm debate in Texas has centered on the state maintaining its own electrical grid and its lack of better storm preparation, including weatherization of key infrastructure. Some state officials initially blamed the blackouts on renewable energy even though Texas relies heavily on oil and gas.

In Washington, Biden’s climate adviser said the deadly winter storm was a “wake-up call” for the United States to build energy systems that can withstand extreme weather linked to climate change.

“We need systems of energy that are reliable and resilient,” Gina Mccarthy said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The White House said Biden’s purpose in visiting was to suppor t, not scold.

Biden was bent on asking Texans “what do you need, how can I help you more,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “And what can we get more for you from the federal government.”

Biden has declared a major disaster in Texas and asked federal agencies to identify additional resources to aid the recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent emergency generators, bottled water, ready-to-eat meals and blankets.

Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said in an interview that he didn’t know what more the federal government could do to help because the failures were at the state level. But Henr y, a Republican who is the highest county official in the suburban Houston county, said that if Biden “thinks it’s impor tant to visit, then come on down.”

Biden wanted to make the trip last week, but said at the time that he held back because he didn’t want his presence and entourage to detract from the recovery effort.

Houston also was the destination for Trump’s first presidential visit to a disaster area in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic flooding that August.

Trump, who is not known for displays of empathy, did not meet with storm victims on the visit. He returned four days later and urged people who had relocated to a shelter to “have a good time.”