Senators: 'Outrageous' CIA chief not at briefing
293 views · Published 3 December 2018 · 3:46 · Indexed 25 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(28 Nov 2018) Senators are expressing disappointment that officials from the intelligence community were not present at a closed-door briefing over the U.S. response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said the White House made the decision that CIA Director Gina Haspel would not appear at Wednesday's briefing alongside the secretaries of state and defense. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey accused the Trump administration of attempting to "stonewall" the Senate and called the absence of an intelligence official "outrageous." Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would insist on a briefing from Haspel, and threatened to withhold his vote on key measures, including the spending bill, if that didn't happen. "I'm not going to blow past this," he said. "I'm not going to be denied the ability to be briefed by the CIA, that we have oversight of, about whether or not their assessment supports my belief that this could not have happened without MBS knowing," Graham said. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince must have at least known about a plot to kill Khashoggi. President Donald Trump has equivocated over who is to blame and continues to maintain the intelligence reports are inconclusive. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/01124d823b4a318a41430150dae533d2
