Prince Bone Saw's Latest Khashoggi Troubles

The sinister Saudi regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (a.k.a. Mohammed Bone Saw) has been vigorously trying to get the story of their murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi to die. The UN's human rights organization released preliminary findings that the Saudi regime undermined and curtailed the Turkish government's attempts to probe Khashoggi's murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. According to Agnes Callamard, the U.N.'s special official leading the investigation, the Turks were given "woefully inadequate access" to the crime scene, impeding the investigation. The Saudis have yet to disclose where Khashoggi's remains are.

In a separate report yesterday, U.S. intelligence sources intercepted a conversation between Bone Saw and an aide, in which Bone Saw is heard to say that he'd use "a bullet" on Khashoggi if he didn't cease his criticism of the Saudi regime, and Bone Saw in particular:

"The conversation, intercepted by American intelligence agencies, is the most detailed evidence to date that the crown prince considered killing Mr. Khashoggi long before a team of Saudi operatives strangled him inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and dismembered his body using a bone saw."

Bone Saw's relationship with the regime of con man and Kremlin asset Donald "Rump" Trump, and Rump son-in-law Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner in particular, has colored the U.S.'s tepid response to the murder of a journalist working for a major U.S. newspaper. Bone Saw reportedly said in 2017 that he had Kushner "in his pocket," presumably through a financial loan or line of credit extended when Kushner was seeking financing for his failing property at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York, or for other financial reasons.

What makes the convergence of these stories timely is the additional connection of the Saudi regime with the National Enquirer / David Pecker extortion and blackmail allegation from mega-billionaire and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. As he wrote in his statement, Bezos has reason to believe that Saudi intelligence services may have had a hand in the theft of his private communications which are the subject of the extortion scheme. The Saudis would like nothing better than to embarrass Bezos, whose paper has been doggedly pursuing Bone Saw's complicity in the Khashoggi murder (and as a favor to Rump, who hates the Post's coverage of him). Rump's possible role with Pecker in trying to smear the owner of the Washington Post might yet be revealed as this story unfolds.

(photo: CNN)

"Jamal Khashoggi Way"

This would be nice, and fitting:

A group in the District is sending an international message related to the murder of journalist and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. 

During a meeting Wednesday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A, which represents the Foggy Bottom and West End neighborhoods, voted to rename a section of street outside the Saudi Embassy “Jamal Khashoggi Way.”

The name change is pending approval by the D.C. City Council.  Do it.

Tweets Of The Day -- The Sawdis' Man In Washington

Another stain that will never wash out:

The WH has issued a statement about "standing with Saudi Arabia."

On Khashoggi's murder (in part): "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!"

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 20, 2018

In summary, Trump is saying (again): Saudi Arabia is very important for the economy and for national security, so he's standing with them no matter what happened with Khashoggi, which is, in his view, impossible to determine.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 20, 2018

Imagine being tortured and dismembered and then having the president of the country that is supposed to hold your killers accountable instead repeat their smears against you while he gives them a pass.

That’s what just happened.

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 20, 2018

This is, hands down, the worst statement I have ever seen come out of a White House & an astonishing abdication of morals, values, principles, & decency. Anyone involved in this policy or the drafting of this travesty of a statement should be deeply ashamed. https://t.co/8oWWE27JGx

— Bathsheba Crocker (@shebacrocker) November 20, 2018

An abomination that will define the ignorance, corruption, cruelty and recklessness of this presidency for generations to come:

Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia | The White House https://t.co/jxrX1LA0tP

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) November 20, 2018

Trump Covers & Excuses Saudi Murderers. No American is safe overseas now. “(Saudis) say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that ...”  https://t.co/WXuz8ytt7P

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) November 20, 2018

"Enemy of the state."  Yes, we saw that, too.

CIA: Mohammed bin Salman Did It (UPDATED)

It appears the CIA has the goods on Crown Prince Mohammed "Bone Saw" bin Salman:

The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The CIA’s assessment, in which officials have said they have high confidence, is the most definitive to date linking Mohammed to the operation and complicates the Trump administration’s efforts to preserve its relationship with a close ally... 

Your move, Trump.

UPDATE:  It also appears the Trump regime may be working on a deal to get Turkey to back off going after Bone Saw by handing over exiled Turkish cleric Fethullan Gülen, blamed by Turkish autocrat Recep Erdogan for "masterminding" the attempted coup in 2016.

UPDATE II:  We're reminded once again to "follow the money" when it comes to the relations between the corrupt Trump crime family and the outside world.

Tweet Of The Day -- Commonalities

.@sarahkendzior taught me that the obviousness of the lying *is* the point.

We did it, we’re lying about it, we won’t be held accountable for it, and now you know.

That’s one thing the Khashoggi murder and Kavanaugh confirmation do have in common. https://t.co/35q85aL4QB

— Justin Label (@justinlabel) October 20, 2018

BONUS:  Via Driftglass --

(Image:  Driftglass)

Lying Sawdis (UPDATED)

If you believe this, we have a Nigerian prince who wants to talk to you:

The missing Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia admitted in a dead-of-night statement from a prosecutor early Saturday. 

Saudi authorities released results from what they claimed was an initial investigation, saying that Khashoggi was killed after a discussion turned into a fight during his visit to the consulate.  (our emphasis)

We've lost track.  Is this the limited hangout, or the modified limited hangout version?

If they ever find the body and find that the fingers had been sawed off, what will be the modified modified limited hangout version?

UPDATE: Khashoggi's editor at the Washington Post responds --

And we are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right hand man has been implicated, and a team of 15 men flew in on private planes entered a consulate on foreign soil to carry this out? #Khashoggi

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

#Khashoggi was a 60 year old man. What sort of equal “fight" would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a “discussion”?!

The stupidity of the Saudi explanation is mind boggling….

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

UPDATE II:  Britain's MI-6 isn't buying the Sawdi cover story, either.

BONUS:

Maybe we shouldn’t give $100 billion in weapons to people who think we’re this stupid.

— Matt Ford (@fordm) October 19, 2018

"Killing Two Birds With One Stone"

The corrupt bargain that's emerging between the Saudi regime led by bloodthirsty Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and the rotted out Trump regime to cover up MBS' role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi now includes a rather interesting detail:

Inside his royal palace in Riyadh, Mohammed bin Salman is said to have alternated between dark brooding and rampaging anger in the days after the death of Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, or MBS, as he is widely known, looked for someone to blame for what Turkish officials have said was the journalist’s grisly murder. 

One possible scapegoat, according to several sources, may be Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the deputy chief of Saudi intelligence. Assiri “has made numerous approaches to MBS on taking actions against Khashoggi and others,” said one source who is familiar with Western intelligence reports.  (our emphasis)

That name -- Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri -- wouldn't ring a bell with most of us, but it did with Rachel Maddow, who connects the dots back to the Mueller investigation for us:



Just like two mob families looking out for each other.

BONUS:  The coincidences just keep piling up.

BONUS II: And another one that looks like a hit.