President Trump said Wednesday the United States has asked Turkey for audio and video recordings related to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared earlier this month after he was seen entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
“We have asked for it, if it exists,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Khashoggi has not been seen since he was spotted walking inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkish officials say Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi operatives in the diplomatic facility.
Top Saudi officials, though, have said they were not involved in the journalist’s disappearance.
The Turkish government reportedly has audio and video recordings that prove Khashoggi was beaten and killed inside the consulate by Saudi operatives.
According to the New York Times, the killing was carried out by a group of 15 Saudi agents, some of whom are tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Details of the audio recordings reportedly show Khashoggi was brought into an office in the Saudi consulate, where the operatives beat and tortured him. They cut off his fingers before later beheading Khashoggi and dismembering his body, the New York Times reported.
Trump told reporters he is not sure audio and video recordings related to Khashoggi’s disappearance exist, but said it “probably does, possibly does.”
“I want to find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week,” the president said.
[Opinion: Trump can easily show true leadership on assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi]
Trump said he intends to receive a briefing from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia this week to find out more about what happened to Khashoggi.
Trump was pressed about why he hasn’t sent the FBI to get answers on Khashoggi’s disappearance, though the president said he wouldn’t share details of whether U.S. agents have been dispatched with the media.
“He wasn’t a citizen of this country for one thing,” Trump said of Khashoggi. “And we’re going to determine that. And you don’t know whether or not we have, do you? I’m not going to tell you.”