The worms are turning: Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

[Richard-H]

Do the Saudi's control the U.S. or does the U.S. control Saudi Arabia?

I think that the amount of power that the Saudi's have over the U.S. is GREATLY exaggerated, while the amount of power the U.S. has over Saudi Arabia is greatly underestimated.

We can force the Crown prince out of power and to be held accountable for this murder - without risking our relationship with Saudi Arabia.

They need us way more than we need them. That's all there is to it!

The Saudi's may not like it, but perhaps it's time that we set the pecking order straight! It's time we stopped catering to a bunch of medieval clowns!

 

[conserveguy877]

Wow! So now the Democrats plan going into a mindless war against Russia and Saudi Arabia if they take power. Who’s the war mongers now?

Not about war....it is about something trump knows nothing about....Decency....he has none. And Repub cult members drool over his lies....

You think you know. But you’ve had no idea. But I get it. You want the war mongering Democrats to enable a war with Russia. Now you can add Saudi Arabia to the list.

 

[conserveguy877]

Wow! So now the Democrats plan going into a mindless war against Russia and Saudi Arabia if they take power. Who’s the war mongers now?

Who said “war”?

Are you saying wars don’t get started through “sanctions”?

 

[candycorn]

Wow! So now the Democrats plan going into a mindless war against Russia and Saudi Arabia if they take power. Who’s the war mongers now?

Who said “war”?

Are you saying wars don’t get started through “sanctions”?

Yes

 

[conserveguy877]

Wow! So now the Democrats plan going into a mindless war against Russia and Saudi Arabia if they take power. Who’s the war mongers now?

Who said “war”?

Are you saying wars don’t get started through “sanctions”?

Yes

Looks like someone is misinformed.

 

[g5000]

The murderer of Khashoggi made up a lie that the reporter was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. A total fabrication.

And yet Trump and the parroting Rube Herd regurgitate that manufactured bullshit like the brainless minions they are.

They actually aid and abet the murder. Fucking twats.

If anyone here is ever charged with a crime, try to get Donald Trump on your jury and then all you have to do is deploy the Putin/bin Salman tactic.

Then it won't matter if there is video evidence, DNA evidence, and 19 eye witnesses against you. All you will need is to take the stand and say, "Nuh-uh!" Then Trump will acquit you.

"Well, he denied it very strongly."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Lawmakers, even GOP lawmakers are sickened by Trump's alliance and defense of a man that the CIA has denounced as a murderer.

Donald Trump has no morals or ethics, but lawmakers are resiling from traveling down the dark hole with Donald Trump.

Let us hope that Satan's slave, Jared Kushner, is pushed out of the White House by the movement against Trump and the Saudis.

American's are embarrassed by Trump's association and defense of a murderer.

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

The White House's pledge to maintain its strong military and economic alliance with Saudi Arabia amid reports that U.S. intelligence has assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has ignited a flurry of bipartisan condemnation in Washington.
After President Trump issued a remarkable statement on Tuesday in which he acknowledged that the heir apparent to the Saudi throne may have known about the "tragic event," but that his administration nevertheless "intended to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia," several Republican and Democratic members of Congress denounced the White House's position.
"I'm pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia First, not America First," Republican Sen. Rand Paul, an ally of the president but ardent critic of America's relationship with the Saudis, wrote on Twitter.
The lawmaker from Kentucky accused National Security Adviser and foreign policy hawk John Bolton of writing the statement and criticized American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition waging a bloody war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"We should, at the very least, NOT reward Saudi Arabia with our sophisticated armaments that they in turn use to bomb civilians," Paul added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has largely embraced the administration's doctrine across the world, wrote on Twitter that "our foreign policy must be about promoting our national interests." The junior senator from Florida stressed that defending human rights is vital to America's national security because human rights violations fuel "mass migration," foster extremism and benefit governments hostile to the U.S.
In a statement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the U.S. can't overlook Khashoggi's high-profile killing and alleged dismemberment, and suggested that there was bipartisan support among lawmakers to sanction individuals involved in the assassination, including members of the royal family.
"While Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, the behavior of the Crown Prince – in multiple ways – has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic," Graham added.
Constant Trump critics Sen. Jeff Flake and Sen. Bob Corker also condemned the statement. The retiring senator from Arizona said "great allies" don't lure their own citizens into a trap, and then have them killed.
"I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia," Corker, who is also retiring, wrote on Twitter.
In his statement, President Trump touted Saudi Arabia's important role in America's national security apparatus and the billions of dollars he said the U.S has received in arms transactions with the royal family. He said U.S. intelligence agencies are still probing Khashoggi's murder. "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" President Trump said in a statement, referring to the possibility that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered the journalist's brutal killing.
Meanwhile, Democrats — who will have control of important House committees that could potentially investigate Khashoggi's assassination and the U.S.-Saudi alliance — were more scathing in their criticism and directly referenced the president.
"The President's failure to hold Saudi Arabia responsible in any meaningful way for the death of Jamal Khashoggi is just one more example of this White House's retreat from American leadership on issues like human rights and protecting the free press," the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement.
Although he said the government should always consider the U.S.' close cooperation with the oil-rich kingdom, Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., accused President Trump of damaging America's "standing as a champion of human rights."
"To suggest 'maybe he did and maybe he didn't' or that we are incapable of finding out the truth, or that knowing the truth our silence can be bought with arms sales, undermines respect for the Office of the Presidency," Schiff said.
After labeling President Trump's response a "betrayal of long-established American values of respect for human rights," Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, the newspaper for which Khashoggi penned opinion pieces, called on the administration to make the intelligence evidence on the murder public and urged Congress to act in the wake of "failure of leadership" from the White House.
"President Trump is correct in saying the world is a very dangerous place," Ryan said in a statement. "His surrender to this state-ordered murder will only make it more so. An innocent man, brutally slain, deserves better, as does the cause of truth and justice and human rights."

With enormous ease Trump lied his way through another news conference yesterday.

TRUMP: “After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States.

Actual orders under the arms deal are actually far smaller and neither country has announced or substantiated Trump’s repeated assertion that the Saudis are poised to inject $450 billion overall into the U.S. economy.

Partly negotiated under the Obama administration, it mixes old deals, some new business and prospective purchases that have not been worked out. The Pentagon said last month that Saudi Arabia had signed “letters of offer and acceptance” for only $14.5 billion in military purchases and confirmed Tuesday that nothing further has reached that stage.

Moreover, the State Department estimated last year that if the full $110 billion in prospective business is fulfilled, it could end up “potentially supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the United States.” That’s a far cry from the 500,000 to 600,000 jobs that Trump has said the arms deal is worth.

The U.S. exported only $16 billion in goods to Saudi Arabia last year, and imported even more. Saudi Arabia’s entire annual economic production is valued at $684 billion. A $450 billion Saudi investment in the U.S. would amount to about 6 percent of its entire economy going to the U.S. if spread, for example, over 10 years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...d0975fd6199_story.html?utm_term=.a3f24309f051

Trump cited the Kingdom's influence over oil prices and said, "if we abandon Saudi it would be a terrible mistake." Trump also said he was "not going to destroy the economy of our country" over Khashoggi by giving up arms deals to Saudi Arabia.

Destroying our economy over Khashoggi is preposterous, and only his diehard fans could believe that statement. The U.S. economy does not need Saudi oil. The U.S. is a net oil exporter. Apparently, Trump did not know that. No one is talking about abandoning S.A.

"The CIA looked at it," Trump told journalists at the White House. "They have nothing definitive." "Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said.

The CIA's report is about as definitive as you can get. Based on the clandestinely recorded audio of the Washington Post columnist’s death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, the CIA had concluded with "high confidence" that the crown prince directly ordered Khashoggi's killing.

Was there any part of this news conference where Trump actually told the truth. Sure, he began by saying his family would spend Thanksgiving at Mar-a- Lago.

 

[deltex1]

As I said elsewhere...

I’ll trade one fat muslim for $1.98 per gallon gas any day. Allabubba arkburb!.

 

[g5000]

As I said elsewhere...

I’ll trade one fat muslim for $1.98 per gallon gas any day. Allabubba arkburb!.

QFP

 

[OldLady]

Do the Saudi's control the U.S. or does the U.S. control Saudi Arabia?

I think that the amount of power that the Saudi's have over the U.S. is GREATLY exaggerated, while the amount of power the U.S. has over Saudi Arabia is greatly underestimated.

We can force the Crown prince out of power and to be held accountable for this murder - without risking our relationship with Saudi Arabia.

They need us way more than we need them. That's all there is to it!

The Saudi's may not like it, but perhaps it's time that we set the pecking order straight! It's time we stopped catering to a bunch of medieval clowns!

Maybe the US has no business "controlling" Saudi Arabia.
Stop catering to them, I agree. One more reason that we need to work aggressively to no longer need their oil and to get the hell out of the Middle East entirely. WE DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS BEING THERE. If it's just for the oil, figure it out without S.A. We actually SELL some of the US produced oil. If we kept it home, would we even need the Saudi oil? If we were being more proactive about alternative energy, this wouldn't have to be an argument.

The United States does not belong in a dispute between Sunni's and Shia's. It will never end, and it has nothing to do with us.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I fail to see how any of this is our business

What are you talking about?

You mean that a long time US Resident and US Journalist with three American born children who was lured, tortured, murdered and dismembered is none of our business? Do you think his American children would agree or disagree?

Did I get that right?

He wasn’t an American citizen nor was he killed on American soil. This kind of shit has gone on in the Middle East for thousands of years. Millions of people throughout that part of the world are oppressed every single day. Funny how you only care when you can make a political point out of it

You join trump as a slug....

Says the partisan hack who supported his Obamessiah paying off Iran who is a major sponsor of terrorism

That was their money...idiot...

Like Khashoggi was Saudi Arabia’s man?

 

[B. Kidd]

You lost me when Adam Schitt said America is a champion of human rights.

The quotes in your link read like a 'Leave it to Beaver' screenplay.

Trump is playing it right!

So its ok now for us to talk about how America is not really a champion of human rights?

Get back to me when we're no longer one of the top 3 arms dealers in the world.

 

[candycorn]

Wow! So now the Democrats plan going into a mindless war against Russia and Saudi Arabia if they take power. Who’s the war mongers now?

Who said “war”?

Are you saying wars don’t get started through “sanctions”?

Yes

Looks like someone is misinformed.

We’ve had complete embargoes on Cuba for what 60 years. Not at war with them. The same for Iran. The same for Russia.

Any number of nations have sanctions against them and we are not fighting wars with those nations. Congress hasn’t declared war since 1941.

Your move.

 

[candycorn]

What are you talking about?

You mean that a long time US Resident and US Journalist with three American born children who was lured, tortured, murdered and dismembered is none of our business? Do you think his American children would agree or disagree?

Did I get that right?

He wasn’t an American citizen nor was he killed on American soil. This kind of shit has gone on in the Middle East for thousands of years. Millions of people throughout that part of the world are oppressed every single day. Funny how you only care when you can make a political point out of it

You join trump as a slug....

Says the partisan hack who supported his Obamessiah paying off Iran who is a major sponsor of terrorism

That was their money...idiot...

Like Khashoggi was Saudi Arabia’s man?

Again, what do you say to his American widow and his American kids when they ask you why you’re supporting a regime who not only killed their husband/father but dismembered his body and smuggled it out of the building?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

He wasn’t an American citizen nor was he killed on American soil. This kind of shit has gone on in the Middle East for thousands of years. Millions of people throughout that part of the world are oppressed every single day. Funny how you only care when you can make a political point out of it

You join trump as a slug....

Says the partisan hack who supported his Obamessiah paying off Iran who is a major sponsor of terrorism

That was their money...idiot...

Like Khashoggi was Saudi Arabia’s man?

Again, what do you say to his American widow and his American kids when they ask you why you’re supporting a regime who not only killed their husband/father but dismembered his body and smuggled it out of the building?

There is nothing that can be said that will make them feel better, plain and simple. The idea that we would risk making yet another enemy in the Middle East and lose billions and billions of dollars in business to countries like Russia and China over the murder of one person who is not an American citizen is absurd over the long term. You are thinking with feelings, not logic

 

[candycorn]

You join trump as a slug....

Says the partisan hack who supported his Obamessiah paying off Iran who is a major sponsor of terrorism

That was their money...idiot...

Like Khashoggi was Saudi Arabia’s man?

Again, what do you say to his American widow and his American kids when they ask you why you’re supporting a regime who not only killed their husband/father but dismembered his body and smuggled it out of the building?

There is nothing that can be said that will make them feel better, plain and simple. The idea that we would risk making yet another enemy in the Middle East and lose billions and billions of dollars in business to countries like Russia and China over the murder of one person who is not an American citizen is absurd over the long term. You are thinking with feelings, not logic

So…what you’re saying is that if he were an American citizen….you’re be willing to risk making yet another enemy in the Middle East and lose billions and billions of dollars in business to countries like Russia and China over the murder of one person?

Is that the calculus?

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Lawmakers, even GOP lawmakers are sickened by Trump's alliance and defense of a man that the CIA has denounced as a murderer.

Donald Trump has no morals or ethics, but lawmakers are resiling from traveling down the dark hole with Donald Trump.

Let us hope that Satan's slave, Jared Kushner, is pushed out of the White House by the movement against Trump and the Saudis.

American's are embarrassed by Trump's association and defense of a murderer.

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

The White House's pledge to maintain its strong military and economic alliance with Saudi Arabia amid reports that U.S. intelligence has assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has ignited a flurry of bipartisan condemnation in Washington.
After President Trump issued a remarkable statement on Tuesday in which he acknowledged that the heir apparent to the Saudi throne may have known about the "tragic event," but that his administration nevertheless "intended to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia," several Republican and Democratic members of Congress denounced the White House's position.
"I'm pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia First, not America First," Republican Sen. Rand Paul, an ally of the president but ardent critic of America's relationship with the Saudis, wrote on Twitter.
The lawmaker from Kentucky accused National Security Adviser and foreign policy hawk John Bolton of writing the statement and criticized American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition waging a bloody war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"We should, at the very least, NOT reward Saudi Arabia with our sophisticated armaments that they in turn use to bomb civilians," Paul added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has largely embraced the administration's doctrine across the world, wrote on Twitter that "our foreign policy must be about promoting our national interests." The junior senator from Florida stressed that defending human rights is vital to America's national security because human rights violations fuel "mass migration," foster extremism and benefit governments hostile to the U.S.
In a statement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the U.S. can't overlook Khashoggi's high-profile killing and alleged dismemberment, and suggested that there was bipartisan support among lawmakers to sanction individuals involved in the assassination, including members of the royal family.
"While Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, the behavior of the Crown Prince – in multiple ways – has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic," Graham added.
Constant Trump critics Sen. Jeff Flake and Sen. Bob Corker also condemned the statement. The retiring senator from Arizona said "great allies" don't lure their own citizens into a trap, and then have them killed.
"I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia," Corker, who is also retiring, wrote on Twitter.
In his statement, President Trump touted Saudi Arabia's important role in America's national security apparatus and the billions of dollars he said the U.S has received in arms transactions with the royal family. He said U.S. intelligence agencies are still probing Khashoggi's murder. "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" President Trump said in a statement, referring to the possibility that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered the journalist's brutal killing.
Meanwhile, Democrats — who will have control of important House committees that could potentially investigate Khashoggi's assassination and the U.S.-Saudi alliance — were more scathing in their criticism and directly referenced the president.
"The President's failure to hold Saudi Arabia responsible in any meaningful way for the death of Jamal Khashoggi is just one more example of this White House's retreat from American leadership on issues like human rights and protecting the free press," the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement.
Although he said the government should always consider the U.S.' close cooperation with the oil-rich kingdom, Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., accused President Trump of damaging America's "standing as a champion of human rights."
"To suggest 'maybe he did and maybe he didn't' or that we are incapable of finding out the truth, or that knowing the truth our silence can be bought with arms sales, undermines respect for the Office of the Presidency," Schiff said.
After labeling President Trump's response a "betrayal of long-established American values of respect for human rights," Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, the newspaper for which Khashoggi penned opinion pieces, called on the administration to make the intelligence evidence on the murder public and urged Congress to act in the wake of "failure of leadership" from the White House.
"President Trump is correct in saying the world is a very dangerous place," Ryan said in a statement. "His surrender to this state-ordered murder will only make it more so. An innocent man, brutally slain, deserves better, as does the cause of truth and justice and human rights."

With enormous ease Trump lied his way through another news conference yesterday.

TRUMP: “After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States.

Actual orders under the arms deal are actually far smaller and neither country has announced or substantiated Trump’s repeated assertion that the Saudis are poised to inject $450 billion overall into the U.S. economy.

Partly negotiated under the Obama administration, it mixes old deals, some new business and prospective purchases that have not been worked out. The Pentagon said last month that Saudi Arabia had signed “letters of offer and acceptance” for only $14.5 billion in military purchases and confirmed Tuesday that nothing further has reached that stage.

Moreover, the State Department estimated last year that if the full $110 billion in prospective business is fulfilled, it could end up “potentially supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the United States.” That’s a far cry from the 500,000 to 600,000 jobs that Trump has said the arms deal is worth.

The U.S. exported only $16 billion in goods to Saudi Arabia last year, and imported even more. Saudi Arabia’s entire annual economic production is valued at $684 billion. A $450 billion Saudi investment in the U.S. would amount to about 6 percent of its entire economy going to the U.S. if spread, for example, over 10 years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...d0975fd6199_story.html?utm_term=.a3f24309f051

Trump cited the Kingdom's influence over oil prices and said, "if we abandon Saudi it would be a terrible mistake." Trump also said he was "not going to destroy the economy of our country" over Khashoggi by giving up arms deals to Saudi Arabia.

Destroying our economy over Khashoggi is preposterous, and only his diehard fans could believe that statement. The U.S. economy does not need Saudi oil. The U.S. is a net oil exporter. Apparently, Trump did not know that. No one is talking about abandoning S.A.

"The CIA looked at it," Trump told journalists at the White House. "They have nothing definitive." "Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said.

The CIA's report is about as definitive as you can get. Based on the clandestinely recorded audio of the Washington Post columnist’s death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, the CIA had concluded with "high confidence" that the crown prince directly ordered Khashoggi's killing.

Was there any part of this news conference where Trump actually told the truth. Sure, he began by saying his family would spend Thanksgiving at Mar-a- Lago.

Putin has to be very pleased with his choice for the American Presidency.

Once again Trump is rejecting American intelligence and believing the word of an autocrat instead much like he believed communist dictators as in Putin, Jim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping.

In siding with MBS, Trump has angered key members of his own party, even stalwart Trump supporters like Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul.
"When we lose our moral voice, we lose our strongest asset," Graham said.

Trump's attack on the other institutions of our government is now complete. He has now attacked the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts. Trump attacked the judicial branch when he said that a judge who ruled against him was an "Obama judge." Roberts took exception to Trump's comment and, in a historic move, the Chief Justice rebuked the President of the United States.

"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges," Roberts said in a statement responding to Trump's comments. "What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for."

Trump fired back. "Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have 'Obama judges,' and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an 'independent judiciary,' but if it is why......" Trump tweeted.

And on it goes.

In addition to Putin's pleasure at this development, Trump's fans are celebrating as well. There is now complete chaos on all levels of the federal government. That is why they voted for him in the first place, and why they continue to support him despite his many ludicrous decisions and pathetic statements and tweets.

 

[Denizen]

Lawmakers, even GOP lawmakers are sickened by Trump's alliance and defense of a man that the CIA has denounced as a murderer.

Donald Trump has no morals or ethics, but lawmakers are resiling from traveling down the dark hole with Donald Trump.

Let us hope that Satan's slave, Jared Kushner, is pushed out of the White House by the movement against Trump and the Saudis.

American's are embarrassed by Trump's association and defense of a murderer.

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

Lawmakers denounce Trump's backing of Saudis, despite Khashoggi killing

The White House's pledge to maintain its strong military and economic alliance with Saudi Arabia amid reports that U.S. intelligence has assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has ignited a flurry of bipartisan condemnation in Washington.
After President Trump issued a remarkable statement on Tuesday in which he acknowledged that the heir apparent to the Saudi throne may have known about the "tragic event," but that his administration nevertheless "intended to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia," several Republican and Democratic members of Congress denounced the White House's position.
"I'm pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia First, not America First," Republican Sen. Rand Paul, an ally of the president but ardent critic of America's relationship with the Saudis, wrote on Twitter.
The lawmaker from Kentucky accused National Security Adviser and foreign policy hawk John Bolton of writing the statement and criticized American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition waging a bloody war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"We should, at the very least, NOT reward Saudi Arabia with our sophisticated armaments that they in turn use to bomb civilians," Paul added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has largely embraced the administration's doctrine across the world, wrote on Twitter that "our foreign policy must be about promoting our national interests." The junior senator from Florida stressed that defending human rights is vital to America's national security because human rights violations fuel "mass migration," foster extremism and benefit governments hostile to the U.S.
In a statement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the U.S. can't overlook Khashoggi's high-profile killing and alleged dismemberment, and suggested that there was bipartisan support among lawmakers to sanction individuals involved in the assassination, including members of the royal family.
"While Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, the behavior of the Crown Prince – in multiple ways – has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic," Graham added.
Constant Trump critics Sen. Jeff Flake and Sen. Bob Corker also condemned the statement. The retiring senator from Arizona said "great allies" don't lure their own citizens into a trap, and then have them killed.
"I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia," Corker, who is also retiring, wrote on Twitter.
In his statement, President Trump touted Saudi Arabia's important role in America's national security apparatus and the billions of dollars he said the U.S has received in arms transactions with the royal family. He said U.S. intelligence agencies are still probing Khashoggi's murder. "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" President Trump said in a statement, referring to the possibility that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered the journalist's brutal killing.
Meanwhile, Democrats — who will have control of important House committees that could potentially investigate Khashoggi's assassination and the U.S.-Saudi alliance — were more scathing in their criticism and directly referenced the president.
"The President's failure to hold Saudi Arabia responsible in any meaningful way for the death of Jamal Khashoggi is just one more example of this White House's retreat from American leadership on issues like human rights and protecting the free press," the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement.
Although he said the government should always consider the U.S.' close cooperation with the oil-rich kingdom, Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., accused President Trump of damaging America's "standing as a champion of human rights."
"To suggest 'maybe he did and maybe he didn't' or that we are incapable of finding out the truth, or that knowing the truth our silence can be bought with arms sales, undermines respect for the Office of the Presidency," Schiff said.
After labeling President Trump's response a "betrayal of long-established American values of respect for human rights," Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, the newspaper for which Khashoggi penned opinion pieces, called on the administration to make the intelligence evidence on the murder public and urged Congress to act in the wake of "failure of leadership" from the White House.
"President Trump is correct in saying the world is a very dangerous place," Ryan said in a statement. "His surrender to this state-ordered murder will only make it more so. An innocent man, brutally slain, deserves better, as does the cause of truth and justice and human rights."

Well, at least in his statement yesterday he mentioned political/military benefits of remaining on friendly terms with S.A. It sounded better than the earlier "solely money" reason. Apparently there are dems and repubs that feel the $$ and the military/political reasons aren't that important and they seem to want us to walk away or at least cancel those contracts.
I have no idea who is right. I think it is a no win situation, to be frank, when an ally commits an atrocious murder and violation of human rights against a citizen because of opposing ideas. If we sanction Saudi Arabia, lose their contracts and their friendly disposition, Trump says power will shift in the M.E. And another country will benefit from the billions in business we give away.
There is no winning here. S.A. went beyond the pale with that stunt. They should be shunned. Maybe the UN can figure something out; have we quit there, yet? If we joined in an international ass chewing, perhaps it wouldn't be taken quite so severely by S.A. ?

Isnt this an issue for the whole world and not just USA. We are the required torch carrier??

Torches aren't the issue. Weapons are. We're selling dictators the very weapons they use to murder and oppress their own people.

I don't expect the USA to be 'World Police', but we could at least avoid being an active accomplice to evil.

I didn't think trump could stoop lower....and he did. He admired Putin. He praises Kim. And now he is given a butcher in Saudi Arabia a green light to go after his enemies.

I guess we should expect that of someone who has an enemies list and is trying desperately to seek revenge against anyone who disagrees with him. He is using the DOJ like his hit squad. The Dem Congress needs to reign in the power of a man that is determined to turn the US into an Authoritarian State. The Royal trump Crime family has to go!

Donald Trump is losing whatever sanity remained after his election campaign.

 

[Denizen]

Isnt this an issue for the whole world and not just USA. We are the required torch carrier??

Trump has been defending a murderer, Mohammed Bin Salman because Trump personally stands to profit from his relationship.

Trump first, USA whenever it suits.

Because it is none of our business and not worth pissing off a valuable ally.

If they were a “lesser" ally, would you care?

What do you say to his American wife and kids?

It's all about trump's allegiance to profit. He doesn't really care about this country. He only cares about his orange ass and his criminal family.

Donald Trump loves filthy lucre. Donald Trump's favorite charity is Donald Trump.

 

[WEATHER53]

How cute Roberts rushing to the rescue.