Lawmakers disagree....

Lawmakers disagree with Trump on Khashoggi assessment

By REBECCA MORIN

Several lawmakers on Sunday disagreed with President Donald Trump's assessment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's murder after the president doubted that Saudi Arabia was involved.

Trump last week released a statement that the U.S. will continue to work with Saudi Arabia, but also said he was unsure whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for Khashoggi's death.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," said Trump is being "dishonest" about the findings.

"I have been briefed by the CIA and, while I cannot discuss the contents of the briefing in any way, I can say that I think the president is being dishonest with the American people," Schiff said.

Schiff said he would have reacted differently if Trump had told the American people what truly happened, but that "nonetheless we need to maintain a relationship with the kingdom, but that's not what he's doing."

“It causes our standing in the world to plummet, it telegraphs to despots around the world that they can murder people with impunity, and that this president will have their back as long as they praise him,” Schiff said.

In addition, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Trump's statement is not consistent with the briefing he received.

“I disagree with the president’s assessment. It’s inconsistent with the intelligence I’ve seen," Lee said on NBC's "Meet the Press," adding that he is unsure what information the president is relying on.

"Intelligence I’ve seen suggests that this was ordered by the crown prince and is yet another reason why I’ve been pushing, why I joined forces with Bernie Sanders back in February, to get us out of fighting Saudi Arabia’s civil war effort in Yemen against the Houthis.”

Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, also bashed Trump's statement calling it "very weak" during an interview on "Fox News Sunday."

"If you want to make a hardcore, realist case that there are places and times when ours and Saudis' interests temporarily align, and sometimes you have to work with bad guys in the world, there’s a coherent, realist case to be made there," Sasse said.

He added though, that Trump should have told the truth that the crown prince did contribute to Khashoggi's death.

"Making a realist case is a different thing than being so weak that we fail to tell the truth," Sasse said. "Strength is telling the truth even when it’s hard."

Khashoggi was slain Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to get some paperwork done for his marriage.