'Zero doubt' Saudi crown prince behind Khashoggi murder, senators say after CIA briefing

Leading U.S. senators said on Tuesday they were more certain than ever that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was culpable in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after receiving a CIA briefing on the matter.

"The views that I had before have only solidified," said Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has called for a strong U.S. reaction to Khashoggi's death and backs legislation to end all U.S. support for the Saudi coalition waging war in Yemen.

Menendez spoke to reporters as he left a closed-door briefing for some Senate committee leaders and Senate leaders by CIA Director Gina Haspel.

Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, shook his head no, when asked if he thought Haspel's briefing had changed any minds.

"I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder and was kept appraised of the situation all the way through it," Corker said to the reporters.

Corker said he believes if the crown prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in "about 30 minutes."

"There is not a smoking gun, there is a smoking saw," Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told reporters, also after the briefing.

"You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MbS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi," Graham said, referring to the crown prince by his initials.

Graham also implied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis being in Saudi Arabia's pocket.

"I would imagine if they were in a democratic administration I would be all over them for being in the pocket of Saudi Arabia but since I have such respect for them, I'm going to assume they are being good soldiers," Graham said.

The senator also said he cannot support arms sales to Saudi Arabia so long as the crown prince is in charge.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who wrote for the Washington Post, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.