CNN’s Dana Bash Presses Sec. of State Blinken on Khashoggi Murder: Is MBS a Killer?

CNN’s Dana Bash put Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the spot about Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A recently-released U.S. intel report concluded the crown prince approved the killing of Khashoggi, but the Biden administration did not directly punish MBS as a result.

Given how President Joe Biden had no qualms in a recent interview about calling Vladimir Putin a killer, Bash asked Blinken, “Do you consider Mohammed bin Salman a killer?”

Blinken did not directly answer. He touted the Biden administration’s release of the report in the first place and pointed to sanctions against other individuals.

“We put in place something called the Khashoggi ban, which makes sure that anyone who on behalf of a government tries to intimidate, silence, or do harm to someone speaking out against that government, whether it’s a dissident, a political opponent, or a journalist, well, we’re going to make sure that person does not set foot in the United States,” he continued, “and that applies not just to Saudi Arabia. It applies to around the world.”

Bash jumped in to again directly ask the question: “You have been transparent and you have been very clear about his role, the Saudi crown prince’s role. So is he a killer?”

Blinken responded by saying the United States deals with world leaders “who do things that we find… objectionable to abhorrent” every day, but “in terms of actually advancing our interests and advancing our values, it’s important to deal with them.”

You can watch above, via CNN.