Conservatives hold murmur campaign that broadcasts Khashoggi to defend Trump

Republicans and conservative commentators are conducting a whisper campaign against Jamal Khashoggi in an effort to protect President Trump from criticism of the alleged murder of the dissident journalist by Saudi agents – and to support Persistent aversion to Trump for an energetic response to the project. desert kingdom rich in oil.

In recent days, a group of conservative House Republicans, allied with Trump, privately exchanged articles from right-wing acts that fuel Khashoggi's suspicions, highlighting his association with the Muslim Brotherhood in his youth and raising questions. conspiratorial about his work several decades ago. Integrated reporter covering Osama bin Laden, according to four GOP officials involved in the discussions without being allowed to speak in public.

These remarks – which many legislators are wary of publicly declaring because of the political risks involved – have begun to surface, as the conservative media has amplified the demands, which are partly intended to protect Trump while he It uses to preserve US-Saudi relations and avoid confronting Saudis on human rights.

"Khashoggi was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood," Fox News presenter Harris Faulkner said on Thursday's popular "Outnumbered" show. "I just said it because it's in the constellation of things we're talking about." Faulkner then dismissed another guest who had called her "if it's difficult".

The message was picked up on the campaign route. Republican Virginia Corey A. Stewart, who challenges Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Said Thursday at a local radio show that "Khashoggi was not a good guy himself".

While Khashoggi was once sympathetic to Islamist movements, he is moving towards a more liberal and secular view, according to Middle Eastern experts who followed his career. Khashoggi knew bin Laden in the 1980s and 1990s during the civil war in Afghanistan, but his interactions with bin Laden took place as a journalist whose point of view was working with a valuable source.

Michael Beer is holding a poster at a rally on the disappearance of Washington Post editorialist Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Embassy on Wednesday. (Matt McClain / The Washington Post)

Nevertheless, the smears have increased. Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the president and his main political supporter, shared a tweet last week with his millions of followers including a phrase that Khashoggi had "shaped Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden" in the 1980s, even though the background was a story about Ben's activities Laden.

One Tuesday spread CR-TV, an online conservative media outlet founded by popular talk show host Mark Levin, has described Khashoggi as a "longtime friend" of terrorists and claimed without evidence that Trump had been a victim of violence. an "insane" media conspiracy to tarnish it. The show was viewed more than 12,000 times.

An article in the far right of FrontPage magazine calls Khashoggi a "cynical and manipulative apologist for Islamist terrorism, not a mythical martyred dissident whose media has spent the worst week in delirium," with a cartoon screaming bin Laden and Khashoggi with their arms one around the other.

The conservative push came as supporters of the Saudi government on Twitter launched a propaganda campaign to denigrate Khashoggi as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, a tolerated but now banned Islamist movement in Saudi Arabia as a terrorist organization.

"Trump wants to adopt a moderate course of action so that his supporters will find excuses for him," said William Kristol, Trump's conservative critic. "One of those excuses is to attack the person who was murdered."

Several Trump administration officials are aware of the Khashoggi attacks taking place in Capitol Hill and in conservative media, GOP officials said, adding that they were careful not to encourage denigration, but were also doing so. little to challenge it.

GOP officials have refused to share the names of lawmakers and other people who pass on information critical of Khashoggi, saying it might expose them as sources.

Fred Hiatt, editor-in-chief of the Washington Post editorial, who published Khashoggi's work, sharply criticized the false and misleading claims about Khashoggi, fearing he was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents.

"As everyone knows who knew Jamal – or read his chronicles – he was committed to the values ​​of freedom of expression and open debate. He went into exile to promote these values, and now he may have even lost his life for his determination to defend human rights, "Hiatt said in a statement. "It's perhaps not surprising that some Saudi-inspired trolls are now trying to distract us from crime by messing up Jamal. It may not be surprising to see some Americans join forces. But in both cases, it is reprehensible. "

Trump said Thursday that it appeared that Khashoggi was dead and warned that his administration might consider "very harsh" measures against Saudi Arabia, which is conducting its own investigation. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has also announced that he will not attend the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia next week, thus delivering the Trump administration's first blame to the Saudi royal family.

"The president is concerned. He believes the relationship is important, too, but he also understands that he is a leader on the world stage and that everyone is watching him and he is very concerned, "said Senator Lindsey O. Graham ( RS.C.), who met Trump on Thursday.

Trump, whose party remains strong less than three weeks before the mid-term elections, saw his cautious approach to Saudi Arabia strengthened not only by Khashoggi's slander, but also by an infrastructure conservative media generally suspicious of the media. Republican establishment. As Trump's criticism increases, powerful players in this orbit stand alongside the president.

"Donald Trump is watching the ball, the geopolitical ball, the ball of national security. He will not be distracted by what happened to a journalist, perhaps, at the consulate there. It does not protect anyone, "said radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday.

"For those who cry blood for the Saudis – look, these people are essential allies," said evangelical leader Pat Robertson. said this week. "We have an arms deal that everyone wants to have. . . . It will be a lot of jobs, a lot of money will go into our coffers. This is not something you want to blow willy nilly. "

Some Capitol Hill Republicans, on the other hand, are discussing the possibility of legislative action against Saudi Arabia or other ways to reduce US support, although discussions have remained fluid.

Last week, representatives of the intelligence community regularly held information meetings on the Khashoggi disappearance investigation for intelligence committees, whose members are given special permission to consult and report. 'hear sensitive information.

But in the House and Senate, lawmakers without this authorization, including leading Republicans in foreign policy, have become frustrated by what many see as a deliberate attempt by the Trump administration to react slowly to requests from politicians. Information from the Congress regarding the disappearance of Khashoggi. or, in some cases, ignore legislators' questions.

Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Robert Menendez (DN.J.) took the initiative to invoke the Magnitsky law to force Trump to report to Congress on people should be punished for the presumed death of Khashoggi, including Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.

Yet Senators have little confidence that Trump will suddenly feel compelled to punish senior Saudi officials or take other punitive punitive measures.

In the House, a perceived lack of White House co-operation on Khashoggi has forced some Republicans to once again be interested in a bill invoking the resolution of the power of war to reduce US military support for the war. Saudi coalition operating in the civil war in Yemen. But the legislation has not yet gained Republican support for foreign policy.

Last year, the House voted by 36 votes to 30 to approve a non-binding resolution stating that US support for the Saudi-led coalition had not been authorized by Congress. royalties.

Earlier this year, the Senate did not enact legislation that would have limited US support for the Saudi war effort, after Saudi officials and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called not to adopt the measure. .

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Liz Sly, Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.