well this is awkward…

Joe Biden believes Mohammad bin Salman ordered Jamal Khashoggi hit

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said President Biden, who is visiting Saudi Arabia next month, believes that the country’s crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, ordered the 2018 operation that killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia in mid-July as he seeks to thaw US-Saudi relations amid record-high gas prices. He has agreed to meet with MBS on that trip despite previously seeking to sideline bin Salman.

Khashoggi’s fiancee this week beseeched Biden to cancel the meeting, telling him, “you are dishonoring yourself” and “putting oil over principles” by agreeing to the sit-down.

Jean-Pierre was pressed repeatedly Thursday on the matter at her regular briefing by Washington Post reporter Matt Viser, who cited a US intelligence community report that assessed that the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia ordered the operation.

“The executive summary of this report says ‘we assess that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the operation’ to capture and kill [Khashoggi],” Viser said.

“And he released the report, right?” Jean-Pierre said, at first sidestepping whether Biden agreed with the finding.

“But does he agree with that assessment?” Viser pressed.

“I’m telling you this is something that the president takes very, very seriously. And he released that report, so clearly he would not release that report if it’s not something he believed in,” Jean-Pierre said.

https://nypost.com/2022/06/16/joe-biden-believes-mohammed-bin-salman-ordered-jamal-khashoggi-hit/