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CIA Director Gina Haspel is expected to brief U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday after listening to an audio recording of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi officials earlier this month in a consulate in Turkey.
Haspel arrived in Turkey Monday to meet with government officials and listen to the purported recording.
According to Washington Post, Haspel is the first U.S. official to have access to evidence since news leaked that Turkey obtained a recording of the killing.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official cited by The Post and said the audio recording “puts the ball firmly in Washington’s court.”
He said the report would put pressure on Haspel to answer to Congress for a briefing.
“It will be pretty hard for her to say no because at a minimum the intelligence committees can ask her to come in secret, but even if it’s a secret session, it will leak fast,” Riedel said.
The scandal has drawn international condemnation, while Saudi officials have insisted the killing was a “rogue operation.”
Amid pressure, Saudi Arabia acknowledged last week that the 59-year-old writer had died in what it said was a “fistfight.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has called Khashoggi’s killing a “heinous crime” and vowed to bring the responsible parties to justice.
President Trump, while acknowledging the Saudi’s role as a U.S. ally in the Middle East, has expressed doubts on the kingdom’s claim of non-complicity.
On Tuesday, Trump implied Saudi officials had deliberately covered up their role in the killing and that those involved “should be in big trouble.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has been in talks with the Treasury Department, about the possibility of imposing sanctions.
[NAN]
