Donald Trump was expected to be briefed today about the secret tape that allegedly captured the interrogation and murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul.
The president was due to meet CIA director Gina Haspel, who is reported to have heard the audio recording during a fact-finding mission to Turkey this week.
The tape is said to form the basis of Turkey’s accusations that the Saudis plotted the killing of the Washington Post columnist, 59, when he visited the consulate on October 2 to complete paperwork to allow him to marry his fiancée.
Ms Haspel’s briefing on the “compelling” audio will put more pressure on Mr Trump to take tougher action against Riyadh.
“This puts the ball firmly in Washington’s court,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and scholar at the Brookings Institution told the Washington Post, which first reported that Ms Haspel had heard the tape.
“Not only will there be more pressure now from the media but Congress will say, ‘Gina, we would love to have you come visit and you can tell us exactly what you heard,’” he added.
The president has become increasingly sceptical about the Saudi leadership’s claim that the death was the result of a “fistfight” involving “rogue” operatives.
This week he accused the Saudis of staging “the worst cover-up ever” and acknowledged the possible involvement of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who has denied any knowledge of the murder.
Speaking about the case for the first time yesterday at an investors’ conference in Riyadh, the crown prince called the killing a “heinous crime”.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo hinted yesterday that Mr Trump was considering tougher punishments against America’s key Middle Eastern ally.
Britain and the US have already revoked visas for the agents implicated in the killing, but Mr Pompeo said: “These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States.”
