Republican Congressman Downplays Saudis Alleged Killing of Khashoggi, Says Journalists Disappear All the Time

Republican Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) downplayed Saudi Arabia's alleged killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi during an appearance on CNN today, despite top Senate Republicans declaring they have no doubt Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the murder.

On Tuesday, Stewart told CNN that although it's possible Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, the U.S. must continue to "have a relationship with some players that we don't agree with."

"Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty journalists have been killed in Mexico. You don't think it happens in Turkey and China?" he continued. "Of course it does. And yet we have to have a relationship with these individuals, or with these countries."

Earlier today, CIA director Gina Haspel's held a briefing discussing the matter, which resulted in several Republican Senators, including Lindsay Graham (R-NC) and Bob Corker (R-TN) declaring they have no doubts that Khashoggi's murder was ordered Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince.

Stewart's comments urging the U.S. to keep its strategic interests in mind echoes previous statements made by President Donald Trump and his administration.

Last month, Trump told reporters that America won't "give up hundreds of billions of dollars" and risk rising oil prices by "being foolish with Saudi Arabia." He and senior White House administration officials have also claimed there was no "direct evidence" linking the crown prince to Khashoggi's killing.

"I'm not going to destroy the world economy and I'm not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia," the president said. "We're not going to give up hundreds of billions of dollars of orders… I think the oil prices would go through the roof."

In contrast, following Haspel's closed-door briefing today, Senator Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had zero doubt that the Saudi Prince orchestrated the killing. "[If he] went in front of a jury, he'd be convicted in 30 minutes," the Tennessee Senator said.

"There's not a smoking gun, there's a smoking saw," Senator Graham added, citing the bone saw that was reportedly used on Khashoggi's body after his murder. "You'd have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was organized by people under the command of [the crown prince]."