12 December 2018•Update: 12 December 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
U.S. intelligence has yet to establish a “direct’ link between the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
"The direct evidence isn’t yet available," Pompeo said during an interview with Fox News. "It may show up tomorrow; it may have shown up overnight and I haven’t seen it."
The comments come as CIA Director Gina Haspel prepares to brief House of Representatives leadership on the agency's investigation into Khashoggi's murder.
It will be her second on Capitol Hill after briefing Senate leadership last week.
Several senators left that meeting lashing out at Trump and his top officials, maintaining the administration is downplaying the links between the murder and Saudi Arabia's de facto leader.
"There’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leading critic of bin Salman.
He was referring to the instrument Saudi agents allegedly used to dismember Khashoggi's body inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul shortly after he entered Oct. 2.
"You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi," Graham added, referring to bin Salman who is commonly known by his initials.
Amid the growing outrage, the Senate is expected to vote later Wednesday on a resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
