CIA director to brief senators on killing of journalist

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday will brief leaders of three Senate committees on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, according to media reports.

The meeting comes one week after Republican and Democratic senators were outraged that they didn't receive an intelligence briefing from anyone with the CIA on Saudi Arabia's alleged involvement in the murder of The Washington Post journalist on Oct. 2.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who called the briefing "lacking," confirmed to Politico the briefing will occur at 11 a.m. with top members of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Intelligence Committee. The Wall Street Journal also reported the CIA director, who was confirmed by the Senate in May, will brief the leaders.

The Senate is scheduled to vote whether to pull support for the Saudi Arabian-led war with Yemen.

Before the upper chamber voted to advance a measure curtailing aid, the entire Senate had a briefing with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saudi policy.

Pompeo, speaking to reporters after the briefing, said "there is no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the order of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi."

President Trump said in a statement that "our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event -- maybe he did and maybe he didn't!"

Haspell has heard an audio recording from inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul of the journalist's death. She listened to the tape in Turkey, which obtained the tape.