Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday night the United States must tread lightly when it comes to responding to the murder of a Saudi Arabian journalist that, according to intelligence assessments, might have been ordered by Saudi leadership.
"No response is certainly not appropriate – looking the other way is not appropriate," McConnell said at a Wall Street Journal event. "But a complete fracture with Saudi Arabia, in my view, is not in our best interest long term. You can see it's easier to state the question than it is to come up with the solution.
"So, we're looking for an appropriate response that doesn't completely fracture the relationship. They are a great ally against the Iranians. The Iranians are up to no good all over the Middle East. For us to push the Saudis entirely away from us seems to me not in the best interest of the United States."
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist who had been living in the U.S., was murdered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul two months ago. Reports indicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman might have been involved in ordering the killing.
McConnell said lawmakers have spoken with the White House and members of the Trump administration as they weigh an official response to the matter.
"We've all been talking about it," he said. " We've had numerous discussions. We had a briefing last week from the secretary of state and the secretary of defense on this issue. We're all kind of, as I said, struggling with what's the appropriate response."
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