Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Friday expressed doubt about Saudi Arabia’s claims regarding the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post.
He said, “The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water.
“They can undergo their own investigation, but the U.S. administration must make its own independent, credible determination of responsibility for Khashoggi’s murder under the Global Magnitsky investigation as required by law.”
The Saudis said the journalist was killed in a “fistfight” in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
It was the first admission that he had been slain.
Officials said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been terminated.
The 59-year-old writer went to the consulate for paperwork necessary to marry his Turkish fiancée.