[S]en. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called President Donald Trump’s decisions to stand with Saudi Arabia and defend the crown prince over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday an “utter failure to grasp” American values
“President Trump chooses to ignore overwhelming evidence that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered and participated in the cover-up of the premeditated murder of a respected journalist,” Leahy said, “yet again he ignores the conclusion of American intelligence professionals.”
Leahy’s pronouncement comes hours after Trump released a statement in which he seemed to disagree with the C.I.A, which had concluded that the Saudi prince ordered Khashoggi’s murder, and Congress, which is considering legislation to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
In the statement, Trump defended Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen, which has come under renewed criticism since Khashoggi’s killing. Trump said Saudi Arabia “would gladly withdraw” from the war in Yemen, which has raged on since 2015, if the “Iranians would agree to leave” and that they would provide “desperately needed humanitarian assistance.”
Trump went on to say that the king and crown prince of Saudi Arabia remain close allies with the United States and that it may “well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”
Leahy said that Trump’s decision to remain closely aligned with Saudi Arabia and to turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by the country is deeply concerning.
“No number of exclamation points will mask President Trump’s utter failure to grasp that putting America first also means putting American values first,” Leahy said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took to Twitter to voice his disapproval of the president’s remarks.
Sanders, a leading critic of the war in Yemen, said the president is afraid of the the Senate delivering a rebuke to his policy by voting to end U.S. support for the war.
“But that is exactly what we will do when we vote on SJ Res 54 next week,” Sanders said.
Sanders was referring to a resolution he introduced earlier this year that would direct the president to remove U.S. Armed Forces involvement in Yemen, except those engaged in fighting Al Qaeda.
Today President Trump, in a rambling and dishonest statement, tried to defend the despotic Saudi regime and cast doubt on the CIA’s conclusion that the crown prince was personally involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 20, 2018
Last month, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., joined with other House members to introduce legislation to halt military aid and arms sales to the Saudis if Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that Khashoggi was killed by agents of the Saudi government.
The measure also stipulated that congressional approval would be required to reinstate weapons sales.
Congress will pick up this legislation and other business when it enters its next session in the first week of January.
