The White House and Mr. Trump have shown little willingness to shift from their policy of continued support for Saudi Arabia and Prince Mohammed.
Privately, even some Republicans on Capitol Hill who believe that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing have said they support the administration’s decision not to impose significant costs on Saudi Arabia, arguing that the kingdom’s support is needed to confront threats from Iran.
“Will the White House give up the cover-up of the cover-up?
I don’t see any sign they are willing to change their tune,” Mr. Riedel said.
“But this will certainly increase the pressure to get Gina Haspel to testify on the Hill.”.
It is not clear if the C.I.A. has the content of the communications between the two men.
One is precisely what Mr. Qahtani was communicating to the crown prince in the 11 exchanges — the two men could have been in constant communication most days, not just at the time that Mr. Khashoggi was killed. »