The Saudi Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi's assassination "blindly obvious": Source

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said the US government would complete a "full report" on the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, while denying reports that the CIA would have concluded that the prince Saudi heir Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination.

"They have not seen anything yet – it's too early," said Trump. "It was a very premature report, but it's possible, we'll see."

But a state department official who saw a version of the CIA's assessment of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi told ABC News that it is "blindly obvious" that the prince heir, known as MBS, ordered the death of Khashoggi.

"The idea of ​​going up to the top is blatantly obvious," said the state department official, who requested anonymity.

"There is overwhelming consensus that leaders are involved – no one is debating within the government," said the official. While saying that there was no doubt in the report, the official acknowledged that the words "probably" and "presumably" are used to attribute death to the crown prince. The source said the CIA's analysis reports rarely included explicit conclusions.

Among the evidence cited in the report, said the official, are the relations between the members of the killing team and the Crown Prince and the hierarchy of the Saudi system. The official said the report was based on interceptions of communications – including earlier phone calls between the killing team and assistants to the Crown Prince – and on reports and analyzes on field. The official said the government reports were updated daily.

"In the coming days, I think we will look at the whole of this report and that the President will decide the way forward," Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Saturday.

"Recent reports that the US government has reached a definitive conclusion are inaccurate, and there are many unanswered questions about the killing of Mr. Khashoggi," ministry spokesman Heather Nauert said Saturday. "The State Department will continue to search all relevant facts."

She added that the United States would continue to investigate the murder while "maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia".

ABC News contacted Nauert to comment on this report Monday night but did not get an answer.

The Saudis have denied the killing of the Crown Prince ordered by Khashoggi.

Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said that an audio recording of Khashoggi's assassination, provided by the Turkish government, would not affect his response to the assassination of Khashoggi, editorialist of the Washington Post, killed on October 2nd. was critical of the Saudi royal family.

"It's a tape that suffers, it's a terrible tape." "I'm fully informed, I have no reason to hear it," Trump said in a statement. interview with "Fox News Sunday". & # 39; & # 39; I know everything that happened in the band without having to hear it. "

Trump also noted that the Crown Prince has repeatedly denied being involved in the murder at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

"Will someone really know?" Trump asked. "At the same time, we have an ally and I want to stay with an ally who, in many ways, has been very good."

Sunday "This Week", Adam Schiff, new Speaker of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives, told co-presenter, Martha Raddatz, that it would be unlikely that such a murder would occur at the unbeknownst to the Saudi Crown Prince.

"Given what we know about the functioning of the Saudi government and the central role played by the Crown Prince, it is very difficult for me to conceive of the assassination of a prominent journalist and journalist. a criticism committed without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, "said the California Democrat. I said.