CIA Director Gina Haspel is headed to Turkey, days after it was revealed that Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.
The Washington Post reports Haspel departed Monday, the same day President Trump said he was dissatisfied with information Saudi Arabia has provided about Khashoggi’s death.
“We have top intelligence people in Turkey,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “We’re going to see what we have. I’ll know a lot tomorrow. They’ll be coming back either tonight or tomorrow morning. But we have people in Saudi Arabia and in Turkey.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is poised to disclose what he claims is the "naked truth" about Khashoggi’s death in a Tuesday morning speech, prompting concern among those in the administration worried that Turkey will share information that will implicate Trump administration ally Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Post reports.
The Saudis have said bin Salman was unaware of Khashoggi’s death, contrary to reports, and the Saudi government has fired five Saudi officials and 18 others have been arrested amid an investigation into Khashoggi’s death.
Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to receive paperwork for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiance. Saudi Arabia first said that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, but later admitted that he was killed following an interrogation that “developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight.”
Turkey claims that the murder was intentional and claims to have audio recordings that confirm he was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team shortly after arriving at the consulate.
Haspel declined to provide comment to the Post.