Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would not participate in any “key vote” until the CIA briefs the Senate on its assessment of whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
“Anything that you need me for to get out of town, I ain’t doing it until we hear from the CIA,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters after a briefing from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis on relations with Saudi Arabia.
Senators wanted to hear from CIA Director Gina Haspel about the agency’s conclusions on the matter, but Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said that Pompeo and Mattis confirmed the White House prevented her from attending the briefing.
The CIA has reportedly concluded that the crown prince ordered the murder, but President Donald Trump has pushed back on that notion and Pompeo told the senators there is no “direct reporting” from U.S. intelligence connecting him to the murder.
Senators remain skeptical, however, considering that the crown prince is the kingdom’s day-to-day ruler.
Graham called the briefing “inadequate,” saying “I’m not going to blow past this. So if that briefing is not given soon, it’s going to be hard for me to vote for any spending bill…. or any key vote”
When asked if he’s made his stance clear to Trump, Graham said he “just did.”
Congress must pass a spending bill before stopgap spending expires after December 7 or there will be a partial government shutdown.
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