WASHINGTON 鈥� Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., called Friday for the declassification of what he described as a 鈥渉ighly disturbing鈥� 2019 phone call between President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill with Khashoggi鈥檚 widow, Vindman said that the transcript, which he reviewed as part of his duties serving on the National Security Council during Trump鈥檚 first term, 鈥渨ould shock people if they knew what was said.鈥�
Vindman did not divulge what was said in the call between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed, who U.S. intelligence concluded approved the killing. But in a letter to Trump on Thursday, he and dozens of other House Democrats demanded its release. That push is exceedingly unlikely to succeed, and the Virginia Democrat鈥檚 announcement appeared calculated mostly to intensify political pressure on the president and keep attention on the killing of Khashoggi.
Still, in an interview, Vindman said he had been moved to speak out after Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed to the White House this week, saying the president 鈥渢ried to completely rewrite history鈥� about the Saudi leader鈥檚 role in the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist.
During the meeting, held in the Oval Office on Tuesday, as a reporter attempted to ask the crown prince about his involvement in the brutal slaying of Khashoggi, Trump interjected to say that 鈥渢hings happen鈥� and asserting that Crown Prince Mohammed 鈥渒new nothing about it.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,鈥� Trump said, referring to Khashoggi. 鈥淎 lot of people didn鈥檛 like that gentleman that you鈥檙e talking about. Whether you like him, or didn鈥檛 like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.鈥�
Vindman took issue with the president鈥檚 characterization, saying that 鈥淯.S. intelligence assessed that MBS ordered the capture and kill,鈥� referring to the CIA conclusion that the crown prince directed the killing.
鈥淭here is no justification to kidnap him, torture him, and to kill him and to cut him to pieces. This is a terrorist act,鈥� Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, Khashoggi鈥檚 widow, said during the news conference Friday.
This article originally appeared in .
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