Pompeo and Mattis brief senators on Saudis – live updates

FAN Editor

Last Updated Nov 28, 2018 12:36 PM EST

CIA Director Gina Haspel was conspicuously absent from a Capitol Hill briefing on military aid to Saudi Arabia Wednesday, a decision Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told senators was at the White House’s direction. 

“We asked why Gina Haspel wasn’t there and the two that were there said that was a decision by the White House,” Durbin told reporters following the briefing. 

The explanation offered Wednesday for Haspel’s absence flatly contradicted national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday — Bolton claimed the White House was not blocking Haspel from testifying. Haspel is the sole official of the three reported to have listened to the audio that allegedly depicts the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist was killed by Saudi operatives in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month. 

The briefing with Pompeo, Mattis and senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday comes ahead of a vote they’re expected to take on cutting off military aid to Saudi Arabia for a war in Yemen. Pompeo and Mattis on Wednesday, according to their prepared remarks, argued that U.S. involvement there is critical — but both Republican and Democratic senators who spoke with reporters after the briefing seemed less convinced of that. 

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters Mattis and Pompeo did not deny reports that the Saudi crown prince was involved in Khashoggi’s death. Mr. Trump has repeatedly insisted the CIA has come to no conclusion over Khashoggi’s death, and defended the Saudis. 

The CIA has intelligence substantiating an assessment the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing. The CIA’s assessment appeared to be largely based on the control held by the crown prince. In other words, the thinking is the murder could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the crown prince, often referred to by his initials, MBS.

Pompeo’s unclassified prepared remarks to Congress made no mention of Khashoggi, and senators were visibly frustrated with Haspel’s absence. 

“I wish she would have been there, a lot of us were frustrated that she wasn’t,” Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said, adding, “nobody was happy that she wasn’t there, put it that way.”

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, called it “outrageous” that the Senate would be stonewalled from hearing from the CIA director. 

“It tells me volumes about what’s really going on here,” Menendez said. 

Pompeo was pressed twice on why Haspel didn’t appear. 

“I was asked to be here, and I’m here,” he said twice.

Alan He, Nancy Cordes, Olivia Gazis, Grace Segers and John Nolen contributed to this report.

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