CIA has recording of MBS saying ‘silence Jamal Khashoggi’: report

The CIA has a recording of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman giving instructions to “silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible” — the strongest proof yet that the ruling royal ­orchestrated the journalist’s murder, a Turkish newspaper ­reported Thursday.

​The “smoking gun” phone call from the prince to his brother, Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, was captured on a CIA wiretap, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.

The newspaper said CIA Director Gina Haspel, who traveled to Ankara as part of the investigation into Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, signaled to Turkish ­officials that the agency has a ­recording of the call.

She briefed President Trump on the probe last month.

Saudi Arabia has claimed that the 59-year-old Washington Post columnist was killed after he got into a brawl with officials trying to return him to the kingdom, but denied the crown prince had any involvement in the crime.

Trump, who announced this week that he would not seek to penalize the crown prince, on Thursday came to his defense again.

“I hate the crime and I hate what is done and I hate the cover-up. And I will tell you this, the crown prince hates it more than I do,” he told reporters after a teleconference with military members at his resort in Florida.

He also continued to dismiss the CIA’s conclusion that the prince direct­ed the journalist’s murder, saying the agency “points it both ways.”

“As I said, maybe he did, maybe he didn’t,” Trump said.

“But I will say very strongly that it’s a very important ally. And if we go by a certain standard,

we won’t be able to have allies with almost any country.”

The president went on to call Saudi Arabia a “longtime strategic partner” and said the country has invested billions of dollars in the United States and is helping to keep oil prices low, to the benefit of the American economy.

Asked who might be behind Khashoggi’s murder, Trump said the Saudi royal family “vehemently denied” the prince was ­involved.

“Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place,” Trump said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir warned that any attempt to penalize the royal family for Khashoggi’s death would be a “red line” that cannot be crossed.

“In Saudi Arabia, our leadership is a red line,” al-Jubeir told the BBC late Wednesday, referring to the crown prince and his father, King Salman.

“They represent every Saudi citizen, and every Saudi citizen represents them. And we will not tolerate any discussion of anything that is disparaging towards our monarch or our crown prince.”