Sen. Angus King, After Confronting MBS on Khashoggi Murder: ‘Likely’ He Ordered It But ‘I Don’t Know’ for Certain

Senators Angus King and Todd Young met with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and directly confronted him over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

King spoke with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tonight and said of MBS, “He wasn’t surprised. He reacted in a way that he understands, Wolf, that he’s got a problem. He understands that he’s got a problem with the American people, and that this matter has to be dealt with in a straightforward and transparent way.”

The Maine independent talked about the U.S.-Saudi relationship and said, “It’s very important, not so much for oil anymore, but because of the tenseness, the complexity of the situation in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a strong bulwark against Iran, which has expansionist desires in the whole region.”

“You spent an hour with him, Senator King,” Blitzer said. “You clearly looked him in the eye. Do you believe he ordered the murder of Khashoggi?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, Wolf. There’s no evidence that he did, but, you know, the issue is if he was the head of the government, and how would he not know?” King said. He added this may have been a “who will rid me of this meddlesome priest” situation.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever know the answer. And I could not form a final opinion on that. But I can tell you, I put the question to him very directly,” King said.

Blitzer brought up the U.S. intel assessment and asked King about it.

King said, “There’s no intelligence that I know of that links him directly to the action. But what their conclusion was, that a sparrow doesn’t fall in Saudi Arabia without the prince’s knowledge and involvement. And I think, you know, that’s really the issue.”

Blitzer again asked him if he agrees with the assessment that MBS ordered Khashoggi’s murder.

“I don’t disagree with it,” King responded. “It was based upon the way the government of Saudi Arabia works. It wasn’t based upon an intercepted communication or some evidence of his direct — and I think that’s a reasonable assumption. But you asked me the question, do I believe, to a certainty, that he did it? And I couldn’t — I can’t give you that certainty. I think it’s likely, for the same reasons that the CIA thought it was likely. He does not take that responsibility, but I think, as I say, at least he needs to take responsibility for the fact that it happened with him as the leader of the country.”

You can watch above, via CNN.