Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Josh Dawsey at The Washington Post report:
The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The CIA’s assessment, in which officials have said they have high confidence, is the most definitive to date linking Mohammed to the operation and complicates the Trump administration’s efforts to preserve its relationship with a close ally. A team of 15 Saudi agents flew to Istanbul on government aircraft in October and killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate, where he had come to pick up documents that he needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.
In reaching its conclusions, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence.
Even if proved beyond a shadow of doubt, however, intelligence officials do not believe that the prince will lose power, nor will the killing send his trajectory toward becoming king off-course.
Donald Trump hasn’t yet labeled this revelation about CIA views “fake news,” and perhaps he won’t. But there is little chance that the White House will make any effort to derail the prince. Indeed, earlier today Laura Clawson, citing NBC News, noted:
The Trump administration is not just refusing to hold Saudi Arabia’s feet to the fire over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It’s actively looking for ways to help Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman evade pressure and scrutiny, up to and including sending a man to his death to encourage Turkey to back off about Khashoggi.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan wants to get his hands on Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the U.S., in much the same way that MBS wanted to get his hands on Jamal Khashoggi. And the White House would like to help Erdogan—if that would convince him to give the Saudis a pass.
It’s anybody’s guess how much of this is tied to the fact that Mohammed and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has close business and personal ties to the prince.