Sen. Corker: Trump Must End Intel Clampdown on Khashoggi

Administration is not allowing senators access to up-to-date intelligence

When the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sought to follow up on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the intelligence community refused to give him access to any recent information on the case.

The committee chairman, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) has warned that this has to stop. Corker says that the issue is “going to come to a head in a very short amount of time,” and that the administration must not continue to refuse intelligence access to senators.

Sen. Corker is one of many in Congress prepared to punish Saudi Arabia over what happened. President Trump is inclined to let the issue slide, and that means he’s also inclined to keep the Senate in the dark as long as possible.

US intelligence agencies do have more information on the Khashoggi affair, and reports suggest that they are leaning toward the same conclusion as the Senate, that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind it. That narrative would be very bad for President Trump’s policy of inaction, and that has meant a policy of keeping the intelligence community away from lawmakers. How long that can last is anyone’s guess.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.