Vindman: Republicans lack 'bravery' to demand release of Trump-Mohammed bin Salman call transcript

[FakeNoose]

2. Back in 2018, everyone (other than Chump) in Washington seemed pretty convinced of MBS's guilt

Saudi Prince ‘Complicit’ in Khashoggi’s Murder, Senators Say After C.I.A. Briefing

Archived link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/us/politics/cia-senate-khashoggi-.html

Dec. 4, 2018

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senior senators said on Tuesday that a classified briefing by the C.I.A. director had only solidified their belief that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

Prince Mohammed “is a wrecking ball,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters after an hourlong briefing by the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel. “I think he’s complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to the highest level possible.”

Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama and the Appropriations Committee chairman, echoed that “all evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince.”

“This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way,” Mr. Shelby said.

The clear and unusually biting assessment put Republican senators at odds with the White House, which has steadfastly refused to cast blame on Saudi Arabia’s leadership for the grisly death of Mr. Khashoggi, an American resident and Washington Post columnist. His killing prompted international outrage over the kingdom’s heavy-handed tactics and renewed attention to the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

- more at link -

This NYT article was written only a few weeks after Jamal Khashoggi's murder, and everyone seems convinced that MBS was the one who ordered it. The C.I.A. briefed the Senators and showed convincing proof, so where is that proof now? Can we hear from former CIA director Gina Haspel?

Somebody knows something, and nobody but Eugene Vindman (who worked for Gina Haspel in 2018) is speaking up.