Mattis says there's no 'smoking gun' implicating Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi murder

James Mattis.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CSPAN)

Defense Secretary James Mattis is defending the Trump administration's response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as questions continue to swirl about the CIA's conclusions.

Mattis told reporters Wednesday that there is "no smoking gun" implicating Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of the Washington Post columnist last month, saying that he has personally reviewed the intelligence that has been collected. But The New York Times reports that the CIA has concluded bin Salman did, in fact, order the killing. CNN backs this up, reporting that the CIA has "assessed with high confidence that the prince directed Khashoggi's murder." When asked if this was correct, Mattis would not answer, simply telling reporters, "There you need to go to the CIA."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.