Two weeks into the investigation of a murder most foul of Saudi-born, America-residing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Donald Trump can't make up his mind whether he's president of the United States _ or defense attorney for a complicit Saudi regime with hands now stained with blood.
The story, according to Turkish officials and powerful emerging evidence: Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and frequent critic of the plutocratic kingdom, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. A 15-person squad _ nearly all linked to Saudi security forces, and many directly tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman _ set on him immediately and slaughtered him within minutes, followed by a two-hour attempted clean up.
This is not speculation; Turkish officials have shared grueling audio of Khashoggi being tortured and killed, evidence that eviscerates Saudi attempts to sidestep responsibility.
Trump is incurious. Just as he has excused meddling and barbarity by Vladimir Putin and others, he is bending over backward to run interference for a brutal regime, to the predictable point of throwing utterly unsubstantiated theories against the wall.
When asked if the Saudis had told him whether Khashoggi was dead or alive, Riyadh-dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "I don't want to talk about any of the facts."
We do. We must. The world must learn whether a regime Americans support with our arms and diplomacy, a regime responsible for unspeakable crimes in Yemen, has murdered a journalist and covered it up.
America should lead that inquest, not get begrudgingly dragged into the light.
