22 October 2018•Update: 23 October 2018
By Umar Farooq
WASHINGTON
A high-profile lawmaker on Monday called the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi "immoral" and "disrespectful" to U.S. President Donald Trump.
"The #KhashoggiMurder was immoral. But it was also disrepectful to Trump & those of us who have supported the strategic alliance with the Saudi’s. Not only did they kill this man,they have left @potus & their congressional allies a terrible predicament & given Iran a free gift," Senator Marco Rubio said on Twitter.
The Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was last seen Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.
The senator's remarks came after Trump switched his rhetoric on the matter, accusing the Saudis of "deception."
"Obviously, there’s been deception and there’s been lies," Trump said in a telephone interview with the Washington Post late Saturday. "Their stories are all over the place."
In the days since Khashoggi was first reported missing, there has been a growing movement among bipartisan lawmakers who have become increasingly vocal in demanding action to punish the Saudi government.
Two Republican senators have said the U.S. should put an end to their arms sales to the Saudis.
"We don't do arms sales for the purposes of the profits from arms sales. We do arms sales because we want to be allied with different countries around the globe that believe in our values, and have a longterm sense of what we're up to together on why we have that alliance," said Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse. "Saudi's got a lot of explaining to do and I think that everything should be on the table."
"I think the cover stories from the Saudis are a mess. You don't bring a bone saw to an accidental fistfight," Sasse added.
Last week, more than 40 lawmakers signed a letter urging Trump to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
"If your immediate investigation and determination are consistent with ongoing media reports about this outrageous action, we urge strong, comprehensive sanctions," according to the letter that also called for an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen.
California Representative Ro Khanna noted he was working to demand answers from the Trump administration on Khashoggi's killing with leading House Democrats, and working with Senator Bernie Sanders to invoke the War Powers Resolution to shut down U.S. participation in Saudi's "gruesome" war in Yemen.
"Mohammed bin Salman reacted to Khashoggi’s criticisms the way he knew best. MbS, as he’s known, probably ordered the assassination of Khashoggi and then — just as the Saudi regime did after bombing a school bus filled with Yemeni children last month — issued ever-shifting and contradictory lies," Khanna wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
