File photo: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 20, 2018.
A former CIA case officer is claiming that the Trump administration is helping cover up the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in last month’s killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Bob Baer, who worked at a CIA case officer primarily in the Middle East, said the U.S. has purposely muted its response to Khashoggi's murder.
"We've always turned a blind eye to what's going on in Saudi Arabia. The way Saudi Arabia is run today, Mohammed bin Salman is an autocrat. Security services, the rest of the country, he's in control," he said.
Baer suggested it is unlikely that anyone besides bin Salman would have the authority to order such an operation.
"The Saudis don’t have rogue operations ever. It's never occurred. The chances that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, we are hitting 100 percent," Baer said.
"At this point, the White House doesn't see a way out,” he said, claiming that there is no clear way to sideline what he called the “psychopath sitting in Riyadh controlling the country."
"No Saudi prince has ever done this ever in its history. I think what worries the White House is this country could pop, and what would we do then?" he asked.
The world is wondering who “at the top” had ordered the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy leader and spokesman Ömer Çelik on Wednesday.“This could not have been done without an order from the top. The world wants to know: Who gave the order from the top?” Çelik said. During a televised speech, Çelik said Turkey firmly condemns French FM Jean-Yves le Drian's remarks that were critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s handling of Jamal Khashoggi case.Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate by a team sent from Riyadh. Saudi authorities have acknowledged that the killing was premeditated, but his body has not been found.US lawmakers expect votes on steps to crack down on Saudi ArabiaReferring to a remark made by French President about the need for a European army, Çelik said the debate over the proposal clearly shows cracks in transatlantic alliance.“Security of Balkans, Europe would not possible without Turkey, no matter with a NATO or a European army,” said Çelik.Discussing the threat from cyber-hacking and outside meddling in the electoral process, Macron said Europe needed to protect itself against China, Russia "and even the United States".Later in the interview he spoke about the need for a European army, saying:"Faced by Russia, which is on our borders and which has shown that it can be threatening... we need to have a Europe that can better defend itself by itself, without depending solely on the United States."‘Turkey can play bigger role in new global order’
World wondering who ordered Khashoggi killing, says AK Party spox
US aide: No bin Salman link
Separately, the U.S. national security advisor said audiotapes of the Khashoggi killing don’t link back to bin Salman.
“I have not listened to the tape myself, but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, it doesn’t, in any way, link the crown prince to the killing. That isn’t the conclusion that the people who have heard it have come to,” John Bolton told reporters late Tuesday at a summit of southeast Asian nations in Singapore.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said audio recordings related to the Oct. 2 killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul have been shared with Saudi Arabia and other countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany.
An article in Tuesday’s New York Times also claimed that a member of the Saudi “kill team” instructed a superior over the phone to “tell your boss” -- believed to refer to bin Salman -- that the operatives had carried out their mission, according to three people familiar with a Turkish recording of Khashoggi’s killing.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate, and later arrested 18 people, including security officers, in connection with the case.