Pompeo denies U.S. trying to cover up Khashoggi killing
Washington — The Trump administration pushed back Monday against allegations that it was trying to cover up the killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi when it failed to send Congress a report determining who was responsible for his death.
“America is not covering up for a murder,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.
Late last year, 22 bipartisan members of the Senate called for an investigation into Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 death and specifically whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible. The investigation was requested under provisions of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The act required the president to report back by Feb. 8 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on whether the crown prince was responsible. In a Feb. 8 letter to Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the committee, Pompeo said President Donald Trump had called for a prompt and open investigation into the death of Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who had been critical of the royal family.
In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Pompeo wrote that in multiple meetings with Saudi officials and in numerous public statements, he had “emphasized the importance of a thorough, transparent and timely investigation, including accountability for those responsible for the killing.” Pompeo also noted that the U.S. sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals for their involvement in the killing, but the letter did not assess whether the crown prince was responsible.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that by law, when the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asks the president to make a finding as to a human rights violation overseas, the president has to respond. “That’s what the law says. So he doesn’t have an option here.”
Murphy said lawmakers could go to court to try to make the president comply, or they can move forward with their own list of sanctions. “Congress doesn’t have to wait for the president to fulfill his duty,” Murphy said. “We can just make a determination ourselves.”