The Coverup

Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a closed-door hearing where they heard testimony from the CIA Director about the Saudi state-sanctioned murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Thereafter, the Washington Post published an article (link here) with the headline "GOP senators come out and say it: The Trump administration is covering up Khashoggi’s killing."

The lede is equally withering for Donald Trump's White House: "Republican senators emerged from a briefing Tuesday about journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing and essentially accused the Trump administration of misleading the country about it — and even covering it up for Saudi Arabia."

Further in the article, the writer notes: "To be clear, these senators aren’t just accusing the administration of missing the point on Khashoggi; they’re saying they feel misled and that the administration has obscured the truth."

This raises two interesting issues: first, why is the Trump administration so accommodating toward the Saudi royal family? Does he hold large real estate loans from Saudi sources? On this front, the incoming House Democratic majority has vowed to hold public hearings to explore connections Trump's business has with Saudi Arabia and Russia.

And the second issue: does this signal that Republican senators are starting to distance themselves from Trump, given how the White House suffered an overwhelming defeat in the House midterm elections? Have the Republican elite finally begun to worry if Trump is toxic for their 2020 chances? One can only hope.