GOP Rep. dismisses Khashoggi's murder: 'Journalists disappear all over the country'

GOP Rep. Chris Stewart on CNN.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Aaron Rupar)

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree: CIA evidence ties Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death. But one GOP congressman is still taking President Trump's side — and making some alarming claims in the process.

In a Tuesday appearance on CNN, House Intelligence Committee member Chris Stewart (R-Utah) backed up Trump's previous dismissal of CIA findings, saying the information he received about Khashoggi's death "was not definitive." He then questioned why people seemed so fixated on Khashoggi's death, seeing as "journalists disappear all over the country," as well as in Mexico, China, and Turkey. "And yet we have to have relationship with these individuals," Stewart said.

See more

Stewart's statement echoes Trump's earlier suggestion that holding bin Salman accountable for Khashoggi's murder was not worth tarnishing the U.S.-Saudi alliance. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) broke with Trump on Tuesday, loudly supporting the CIA's conclusion that bin Salman was behind Khashoggi's murder. Stewart did concede that these senators may have learned more in Tuesday's CIA briefing than he did last week.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.