Tuesday, December 4, 2018

'Zero question' MBS directed Khashoggi murder, US senators say

After meeting with CIA director, Republican senators say Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is 'complicit' in journalist's murder

Tuesday 4 December 2018

Two US Republican senators have emerged from a meeting with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday saying it's clearer than ever that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday that bin Salman, known as MBS, is "complicit" in the killing of Khashoggi.

"MBS, the crown prince, is a wrecking ball. I think he’s complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to the highest level possible," Graham told reporters after he came out of the meeting with Haspel.

"I think the behaviour before the Khashoggi murder was beyond disturbing and I cannot see him being a reliable partner to the United States."

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White House 'hiding' what it knows about Khashoggi murder: US senator

Haspel delivered a closed-door briefing on the Khashoggi murder to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations committees on Tuesday morning.

While Saudi Arabia and the crown prince "are two different entities", Graham said the relationship between Washington and Riyadh was imperilled due to MBS's control of the Saudi government.

"If the Saudi government is going to be in the hands of this man for a long time to come, I find it very difficult to be able to do business because I think he’s crazy. I think he is dangerous, and he has put the relationship at risk."

'Zero question' MBS directed the murder

US Senator Bob Corker, the current head of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, also said after the meeting that he is certain that MBS ordered Khashoggi's murder.

"I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder and was kept appraised of the situation all the way through it," Corker said.

A Saudi government critic who was living in self-imposed exile in the US at the time of his death, Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

A 15-man Saudi team was sent to Turkey to kill the Washington Post columnist and his murder took seven minutes, a Turkish source previously told Middle East Eye.

Corker called on US President Donald Trump to strongly condemn Saudi Arabia for the killing and make sure that those responsible are held accountable, Reuters reported.

“If the crown prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes," he told reporters. Asked if he would be convicted of murder, the senator then answered: "Yes."

Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also briefly spoke to reporters after the meeting.

"The views that I had before have only solidified," said Menendez, who has called for the US to respond forcefully to Khashoggi's murder and supports legislation to end US support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

The Trump administration has so far pledged to remain a steadfast supporter of the Saudi government, including MBS, the country's de facto leader, despite the murder of Khashoggi, however.

The case has highlighted growing tensions between the Trump administration and the CIA, which concluded last month that MBS ordered Khashoggi's murder.

Trump has repeatedly cast doubts over the US intelligence agency's assessment, however, while Saudi officials have repeatedly denied that the crown prince had any knowledge of Khashoggi's murder or its subsequent cover-up.

MBS, the crown prince, is a wrecking ball. I think he’s complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, to the highest level possible

- US Senator Lindsey Graham

A source told Reuters news agency on Tuesday that Trump administration officials, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, will brief all members of the US House of Representatives on the Saudi situation on 13 December.

Haspel is also expected to brief leaders and top committee members of the House within the next two weeks on Khashoggi's killing, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters.

A 'smoking saw'

Both Pompeo and Mattis have said in the past week that there is no definitive link - or a "smoking gun" - to tie MBS to Khashoggi's murder.

However, US lawmakers have repeatedly called for the CIA and the Trump administration to release all the information they have related to the case.

On Tuesday, Graham said while there may not be a smoking gun, there is a "smoking saw", a reference to reports that a member of the Saudi hit team sent to Istanbul used a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi's body after he was killed.

Earlier in the day, Republican Senator Rand Paul voiced his frustration that "most rank-and-file senators and congressmen" were not invited to the meeting with Haspel.

"It’s wrong for the CIA to have expressed a conclusion that the crown prince was involved in the killing of Khashoggi and then withhold that information," he told reporters.

"Were there text messages sent back from the killers to the crown prince’s office? Was there a phone conversation between the crown prince and the killers?" said Paul, about what he would have asked the CIA director had he been allowed into the briefing.

Meanwhile, the Open Society Foundations' Justice Initiative filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the CIA and other US federal agencies for all documents related to the murder of Khashoggi.

The request covers records "including but not limited to the CIA’s findings on the circumstances under which [Khashoggi] was killed and/or the identities of those responsible", the group said in a statement.

It was also filed with the US Departments of State, Justice and Defence, as well as the FBI, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

US senators: we're certain Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi's murder

Senators emerge from briefing by CIA director Gina Haspel
Corker: jury would convict Prince Mohammed in 30 minutes

'Zero chance' Khashoggi murder happened without crown prince, says US senator – video

Julian Borger in Washington-Tue 4 Dec 2018 18.23 GMT

Senators have emerged from a classified briefing by the CIA director, Gina Haspel, saying they are certain that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“If the crown prince went in front of a jury he would be convicted in 30 minutes,” Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate foreign relations committee told journalists immediately after the Haspel meeting.

A handful of leading senators from both parties attended the secure briefing from Haspel, who flew to Turkey to hear tapes of the 2 October killing from Turkish intelligence intercepts.

The senators were not allowed to disclose details of what they were told, but their reaction reinforced reports that the CIA had accumulated substantial evidence that the crown prince (widely known by his initials MBS) was behind the murder.

The Trump administration has said that there is no “direct evidence” of the prince’s culpability, with the defence secretary, James Mattis, insisting there was no “smoking gun”, but Corker said you would have to be “willfully blind” not to see the evidence.

“There is no way anyone with a straight face could say they didn’t know what happened,” he said.
After Tuesday’s Haspel briefing, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: “There’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw.”

There’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw
Turkish authorities say it took seven and a half minutes for Khashoggi to be killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had been lured thinking he was going to pick up documents he needed to marry his fiancee.

Turkish investigators have said he was suffocated before his body was dismembered with a bone saw, which a 15-strong hit team had brought into the country.

“I went into the briefing believing it was virtually impossible for an operation like this to be carried out without the crown prince’s knowledge. I left the briefing with high confidence that my initial assessment of the situation is correct,” Graham said.

“MBS, the crown prince, is a wrecking ball, I think he is complicit in the murder of Mr Khashoggi to the highest level possible,” Graham added.

The Senate is due to vote in the coming days on a measure that would cut off US military support for Saudi military operations in Yemen. Although most senators came out of the Haspel briefing declaring themselves convinced of the prince’s guilt, there are still differences over whether the US response should involve the Yemen conflict.

The Khashoggi murder, however, has opened up a wide rift between the administration and congressional Republicans on Saudi policy which threatens to widen further.

Graham made clear on Tuesday that as long as Prince Mohammed remained at the head of government, he would oppose continuing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, the main justification Trump has given for withholding judgment on the crown prince.

“Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally and the relationship is worth saving, but not at all costs,” the senator, usually a fervent Trump ally, said.

“If the Saudi government is going to be in the hands of this man for a long time to come, I find it very difficult to do business because I think he is crazy, I think he is dangerous, and he has put the relationship at risk.”

Yemen's Houthi rebels land in Sweden for UN-brokered peace talks

Houthis arrived late Tuesday, while officials representing Yemen's Saudi-backed government to land in Sweden on Wednesday

The UN hopes to end the war in Yemen, which has led to a dire humanitarian crisis (Reuters/File photo)

Tuesday 4 December 2018

A delegation of Houthi rebels has arrived in Sweden alongside the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, who has spearheaded a recent international push to bring the country's warring sides to the negotiating table.

The Houthi delegation arrived in Sweden for the peace talks late on Tuesday, the UN said, as reported by AFP.

Officials representing Yemen's Saudi-backed government, headed by ousted President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, are due to arrive on Wednesday, the news agency said.

"Griffiths was true to his word ... We are certain he has put in place a general framework for negotiations in order to proceed with the political process," Abdelmeguid Hanash, a member of the Houthi team, told reporters before boarding a Kuwaiti plane that took off from Yemen's capital, Sanaa, for Sweden.

The UN has actively sought to get the warring parties together for peace negotiations to bring an end to the devastating conflict and this would be the first peace talks since 2016.

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UN evacuates wounded Houthis ahead of planned peace talks

A Saudi-led coalition began a military operation in Yemen in 2015 to push back the Houthis and restore Hadi to power.

The country has since been pulled into a worsening humanitarian crisis, with as many as 14 million people currently on the verge of famine, the UN recently warned.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday that the Sweden talks, set to be held in a renovated castle outside Stockholm, are a "critical opportunity".

"A sustainable Yemeni-led political solution offers the best chance to ending the current crisis. A stable state, important for the region, cannot coexist with unlawful militias," Gargash said, as reported by Reuters.

This week, the UN has successfully brokered several confidence-building measures to ensure that representatives for the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government make it to Sweden.

On Monday, about 50 wounded Houthi rebels were evacuated from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and flown to Oman to receive treatment.

The Houthis and the Yemeni government also agreed earlier in the day on Tuesday to exchange hundreds of prisoners that have been captured by each of the opposing sides since the war began.

The deal covers between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the pro-government forces and between 1,000 and 1,500 rebels, government official Hadi Haig said.

Talks could begin on Thursday

The last attempt to hold Yemen peace talks failed in September after the Houthi delegation didn't show up. The rebel group had wanted guarantees its fighters would be able to leave and return to Yemen safely, among other demands.

Griffiths, the UN envoy, hopes to reach a deal on reopening Sanaa airport, implementing the prisoner swap and agreeing to a detente in the critical Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, which could serve as a foundation for a wider ceasefire.

Residents in Hodeidah were fearful of renewed fighting if the peace talks failed. "The situation here does not make us optimistic that we will avoid war," Mohammed Taher, a 51-year-old government employee, told Reuters.

Although no date has been announced for the start of the negotiations, Yemeni government sources told AFP the talks could begin on Thursday.

Members of the Houthi delegation left from Sanaa airport on Tuesday (Reuters)

The United States welcomed the prospect of peace talks on Tuesday, less than a week after US senators moved forward with a historic resolution to halt Washington's support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for the US State Department, said the US "calls on parties to engage fully and genuinely, and cease any ongoing hostilities".

"We have no illusions that this process will be easy, but we welcome this necessary and vital first step," she said in a statement.

However, Nauert's boss, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said over the weekend that the US intends to continue to support Saudi-led forces in Yemen, despite calls both in the US and abroad to pressure Riyadh to end the war.

"The programme that we're involved in today we intend to continue," Pompeo told CNN on Saturday.

US tries to stop Ireland banning imports from Israel’s settlements

Veteran US lawmaker Peter King has lobbied against an Irish attempt to ban goods from Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Bill ClarkCQ Roll Call Photos/Newscom

Ciaran Tierney- 4 December 2018

A prominent US politician has lobbied Irish lawmakers to reject a proposed ban on imports from Israel’s illegal settlements.

Peter King, a member of Congress for New York, is among those who have opposed a bill being debated in Dublin.

Although the bill – aimed at forbidding goods from Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank – seeks to uphold international law, King has depicted it as subversive.

King has tried to convince Fianna Fáil, one of Ireland’s largest parties, to withdraw its support for the proposed ban.

“It is critical that countries and leaders interested in facilitating a lasting peace amongst Israelis and Palestinians not serve to empower the most radical, who have no interest in seeking peace,” King stated in an email message addressed to Fianna Fáil’s team in the Oireachtas, Ireland’s national parliament.

He argued that the proposed ban on settlement goods “does just that by undercutting Palestinians truly interested in peace and empowering Hamas terrorists and recalcitrant Palestinians who refuse even to approach negotiations.”

King’s appeal was made in July and has not been previously reported.

Despite his strong connections with Ireland’s politicians, King could not persuade Fianna Fáil to change its stance. The party’s lawmakers have twice voted in favor of the Occupied Territories Bill, as the proposed ban on settlement goods is known.

Niall Collins, Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on foreign affairs, confirmed that King had been in contact with the party. Collins added that staff from the US embassy in Dublin had visited him “a couple of times,” urging him to oppose the bill.

“Huge issue”

During a trip to the West Bank in the summer, Collins was taken aback by the scale of Israel’s settlement activities.

“I struggle to see how a two-state solution can ever be achieved because of the whole proliferation of the settlements,” Collins told The Electronic Intifada. “The whole West Bank now is so fragmented that I struggle to see how that pipe dream can occur.”

The position taken by Fianna Fáil has proven vital towards having the bill approved by the Seanad, the upper house in the Oireachtas. Nominally in opposition, Fianna Fáil is enabling the work of a minority government led by its rival Fine Gael through a “confidence and supply” arrangement.

Whereas Fine Gael has tried to torpedo the Occupied Territories Bill, Fianna Fáil has backed it.

Fianna Fáil has previously proven accommodating to the US elite. While in government, it allowed the US to refuel military planes in Shannon Airport at the time of the 2003 war against Iraq.

But on the issue of Israel’s settlement goods, Fianna Fáil has listened to public opinion.

Collins acknowledged that he was unaware of the depth of Irish empathy for the Palestinians until he became his party’s foreign affairs spokesperson earlier this year.

“I was very surprised at the time,” he said. “But I understand now that Palestine is a huge issue for people in Ireland.”

Reactionary

The arguments made by Peter King smack of double standards. His use of the term “terrorists” to describe Palestinian resistance fighters is at odds with how he has previously defended Irish republicans involved in an armed struggle.

Although he suggests that Hamas should be isolated, King encouraged dialogue with Irish republicans at a time when the British government was refusing to deal with them. He has taken credit for persuading Bill Clinton, then US president, to issue a visa for Gerry Adams, then leader of the political party Sinn Féin, in 1994.

Adams’ visit to New York is widely recognized as having helped to advance the Irish peace process.

Equally, King is wrong to assert that a ban on settlement goods would undercut Palestinians “truly interested in peace.” His argument overlooks how Israel’s apartheid system – including its relentless colonization of the West Bank – is the primary obstacle to peace and justice.

The ban being considered in Ireland aims to make Israel pay a price for its settlement activities. Under the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention, building settlements in a territory acquired by force is a war crime.

In the recent past, King has proven to be an especially reactionary member of Congress. He has, for example, supported President Donald Trump’s attempts to prevent residents of seven largely Muslim countries from entering the US.

King did not respond to a request for comment.

Inspired by a strike

Advocates of the ban on settlement goods have drawn inspiration from a strike by staff of the Irish retailer Dunnes Stores in the 1980s. By refusing to handle South African goods, the Dublin strikers made a significant contribution to an international campaign that would ultimately result in sanctions being imposed on Pretoria’s apartheid government.

“We are being watched from all over the world,” said Frances Black, the Irish senator who formally proposed the Occupied Territories Bill. “If this legislation gets through here in Ireland, I have no doubt that other countries will follow suit – just like what happened with the Dunnes Stores workers in Dublin.”

Black, also a well-known singer, has been touring Ireland over the past few months to promote a ban on Israeli settlement goods.

Frances Black

✔@frances_black

Thank you to the wonderful people of Carrigaline, Cork for welcoming Palestinian farmers Mona & Fayez today They talked about life under occupation, dreams of a better life & got messages of solidarity from local Irish farmers. Thx @emitincork @trocaire @ChristianAidIrl

185

1:51 PM - Jul 9, 2018 · Cork, Ireland

She has been critical of the uncooperative response from Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister and a leading figure in the Fine Gael party.

Coveney’s claims that – as a European Union member – Ireland may not unilaterally ban Israel’s settlement goods have been disputed by a number of lawyers. The lawyers insist that individual countries are entitled to restrict trade for reasons of public policy.

“I think the Irish government is probably fearful of Ireland leading on this,” said Black. “They are fearful of what the European Union and the United States might say. They said the same thing with the Dunnes Stores workers – that we couldn’t lead on this – but I’m saying that we can lead on this and that the people of Ireland want this.”

Ciaran Tierney is a journalist based in Galway, Ireland. Website: ciarantierney.com.

Trump’s latest tweets cross clear lines, experts say: Obstruction of justice and witness tampering

By Deanna Paul-December 3 at 7:29 PM

President Trump took to Twitter Monday morning, haranguing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and witnesses to his ongoing Russia investigation. His tweets have become a common morning occurrence, particularly in recent weeks. But legal experts are calling Monday’s missives a newsworthy development that amounts to evidence of obstructing justice.

Trump’s first statement went out after Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney who pleaded guilty last week for lying to Congress about the president’s real estate project in Russia. In his tweet, Trump alleged that Cohen lied to Mueller and called for a severe penalty, demanding that his former fixer “serve a full and complete sentence.”

After the overt attack on Cohen came a tweet encouraging Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump, not to become a witness against him:

Several of Roger Stone’s longtime associates have been interviewed by the special counsel. The Post visited Stone, just as Mueller’s probe zeroes in on him. (Monica Akhtar, Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

“’I will never testify against Trump.’ This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump.’ Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’”

Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that the most striking thing about Monday was that there were two statements in proximity.

“It comes very close to the statutory definition of witness tampering,” he said. “It’s a mirror image of the first tweet, only he’s praising a witness for not cooperating with the implication of reward,” he said, adding that Trump has pardon power over Stone.

“We’re so used to President Trump transgressing norms in his public declarations,” Eisen said, “but he may have crossed the legal line.”

Respected figures across party lines also responded to Trump’s tweets on the social media platform.

Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) called it “serious,” adding that “the President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign.”

Attorney George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, referenced the federal statute most likely to create legal liability for Trump: 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512, which outlines the crime of witness tampering.

What is the law?

Tampering with a witness is obstruction of justice.

It’s a federal crime for an individual to intimidate, threaten or “corruptly persuade” another person with the goal of influencing or preventing his or her testimony.

With the term whirling around Washington, a former federal prosecutor explains what to know about the criminal charge of obstruction of justice. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Did Trump break it?

Historically, there are plenty of cases where similar statements were used as part of an obstruction-of-justice prosecution, according to former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal.

Even if Mueller could technically satisfy the statute, few prosecutors would make a congressional referral based on tweets from the president alone.

Instead, Monday’s slew of tweets probably will be used to evaluate whether Trump’s intent was “corrupt.” They will also be used to show a pattern by Trump to interfere with law enforcement to serve his personal end, Katyal said.

“[The tweets] are just like firing FBI Director [James B.] Comey for investigating the Russia scandal, or firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions because he wasn’t recused from the Russia scandal,” he said.

“It’s the same attitude that led President Trump to try to direct [the Department of Justice] to seek the indictments of his political opponents (Hillary Clinton and Jim Comey).”

In his tweet, Trump claimed that Cohen pleaded guilty to charges “unrelated” to him — a statement that’s patently untrue.

Cohen’s initial plea implicated the president in potential campaign finance violations.

The August guilty plea prompted Trump to tweet, “[U]nlike Michael Cohen, [Paul Manafort] refused to ‘break’ — make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!” Manafort is Trump’s former campaign manager.

Last week’s plea also made specific reference to Trump.

Katyal said of Monday’s tweets: “The difference with the prior episodes is that you’ve got the whole enchilada in one tweet — you don’t need to refer to other extrinsic evidence. Trump is directly praising one individual for not flipping and attacking another for doing so.”

Neal Katyal

✔@neal_katyal

George is right. This is genuinely looking like witness tampering. DOJ (at least with a nonfake AG) prosecutes cases like these all the time.  The fact it's done out in the open is no defense. Trump is genuinely melting down, and no good lawyer can represent him under these circs

George Conway@gtconway3d

File under “18 U.S.C. §§ 1503, 1512” https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1069619316319035392 …

25K

11:16 AM - Dec 3, 2018

There is a certain amount of ambiguity in Trump’s statements, leaving wiggle room for his defenders to say he was not making threats, but blowing off steam.

As the chief executive, the president oversees criminal prosecution of federal cases. Unlike firing federal officials, directly encouraging a potential witness not to cooperate in an investigation involving his own conduct is significant.

“When you look at the tweets about Stone and Cohen, Trump is sending a very strong message to others that those who cooperate will be punished, and those who keep his secrets will be rewarded,” white-collar defense attorney Barry Berke said.

On Jan. 3, Democrats take control of the House, and a new congressional session will begin.

“The tweets could be the basis for the House to determine if the president engaged in an abuse of power or worse,” said Berke, referring to the articles of impeachment against past presidents — Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton — for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.