OOPS?

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro Backs Away From Claim Kushner Orchestrated Khashoggi Killing

A member of the House intelligence committee said Trump’s son-in-law ‘delivered a hit list’ to the Saudi crown prince, who is accused of ordering the murder of a journalist.

Without evidence, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), a member of the House intelligence committee, said Jared Kushner might have passed a “hit list” to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulting in the apparent brutal slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  

Castro, during a CNN appearance Friday morning, cited unspecified “reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with U.S. intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS, in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi.”

When CNN’s Poppy Harlow interjected that she was unfamiliar with such reporting and the network had not reported that, Castro reiterated that “I’ve seen reporting to that effect… that needs to be investigated.” While Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is close with the Saudi crown prince, no one has accused Kushner of any involvement, let alone orchestration, in the Khashoggi killing.

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After The Daily Beast published this story, Castro said in a statement that he “did not intend to accuse Jared Kushner of orchestrating the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.” He tweet-stormed several pieces of reporting on Kushner’s extensive ties to MBS, including a March dispatch from the Intercept reporting that Kushner passed on material from the CIA-compiled President’s Daily Brief containing names of anti-MBS Saudi royals to the crown prince – though Khashoggi was not royalty. Castro clarified that he wants Congress to investigate whether Kushner “or any other administration official shared any U.S. intelligence with the Saudis that led to any political persecution, including the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Castro’s comments an “outrageous slanderous lie without a shred of proof” on Twitter.

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Spencer AckermanContributing Editor

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