John Bolton says he hasn't listened to the tape of Jamal Khashoggi's murder because 'I don't speak Arabic'

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/ABC News Politics)

published 27 November 2018

National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday dismissed the idea that he should listen to the tape of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

When asked if he has listened to audio of Khashoggi being killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Bolton said he hasn't, and he doesn't see why that's necessary. "I guess I should ask you, why do you think I should?" Bolton shot back to the reporter at a press briefing. "What do you think I'll learn from it?" Bolton said the reason he hasn't listened to it is that he doesn't speak Arabic. When a reporter suggested he could listen to it and make use of an interpreter, he said, "Well, then I can read a transcript."

Bolton later said that he has been informed about the "substance of what's in" the tape. CNN's April Ryan in a follow-up suggested that if he listened to the audio recording, he could "hear the emotion, and a translator could help you understand what happened," but Bolton said he is "very satisfied that we know what the tape picked up." President Trump previously said that he did not want to listen to the tape of the murder because it is a "suffering tape." The Trump administration is currently sticking by Saudi Arabia and claiming there's no evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the murder, a position White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders maintained, saying there has been no "definitive evidence" from the intelligence community. Watch Bolton's comments below. Brendan Morrow