[ad_1]
"I can say that I think the president is dishonest with the American people," said. Representative Adam Schiff. | Puce Somodevilla / Getty Images
On Sunday, several lawmakers expressed their disagreement with the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by President Donald Trump after he questioned the fact that Saudi Arabia was involved.
Last week, Trump issued a statement that the United States would continue to work with Saudi Arabia, but also indicated that he did not know whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the Khashoggi's death.
History continues below
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) In an interview on "State of the Union" on CNN said that Trump was "dishonest" about the results.
"I've been informed by the CIA and, although I can not in any way discuss the content of the meeting, I can say that I think the president is dishonest with the American people," Schiff said. from "State of the Union" of CNN. "
Schiff said that he would have reacted differently if Trump had informed the American people of what had actually happened, but that "we still need to maintain a relationship with the kingdom, but it is not what he does. "
"This has caused our position in the world to fall, he has telegraphed despots all over the world that they can murder people, then with impunity, and that this president will have his back as long as they will praise him", said Schiff.
In addition, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) stated that Trump's statement was not consistent with the briefing he had received.
"I do not agree with the president's assessment. It's inconsistent with the intelligence I've seen, "Lee said on NBC's" Meet the Press, "adding that he did not really know what information the president was basing on.
"Information that I saw suggested that it had been ordered by the Crown Prince.This is one more reason why I fought last February to associate with Bernie Sanders, so to get us out of the civil war in Saudi Arabia Yemen against the Houthis. "
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, another Republican lawmaker, also criticized Trump's statement, calling it "very weak" during an interview in "Fox News Sunday".
"If you want to do a realistic and hardcore thesis that there are places and times when our interests and the Saudis temporarily align, and that you sometimes have to work with bad guys in the world, you have to present consistent and realistic arguments, "he said.
He added, however, that Trump should have told the truth that the crown prince had contributed to Khashoggi's death.
"Presenting realistic arguments is different from being so weak that we fail to tell the truth," Sasse said. "The strength is to tell the truth even when it is difficult."
Khashoggi was killed on October 2 when he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain documents for his marriage.
