AlterNet
Editor's Note: This headline has been updated.
Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA) alluded to a secret tape of a call between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in his comments on the House floor following a Tuesday Oval Office meeting between the two leaders. Vindman, in his remarksm called for the release of the transcripts of the call.
"Trump has the responsibility to release the transcripts of his call with MBS. You will be shocked by what you hear," Vindman posted on X Wednesday.
This comes, reports The Daily Beast, "one day after the president insisted Mohammed bin Salman had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s killing, despite U.S. intelligence officials concluding he ordered the hit, a former Trump national security insider has claimed there is explosive evidence to the contrary."
Vindman was a National Security Council staffer under the first Trump administration, whose work included reviewing certain calls between the president and foreign leaders, The Daily Beast explains.
"Vindman claims that one phone call he reviewed undercut Trump’s astonishing defense of the Crown Prince in the Oval Office on Tuesday, when he said of Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi agents: 'Things happen,'" they report.
“During my tenure on Trump’s White House National Security Council staff, I reviewed many of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders. Of all the calls I reviewed, two stood out as the most problematic,” Vindman says.
"The first, we all know, was between President Trump and President [Volodymyr] Zelensky, which resulted in President Trump’s first impeachment. The second was between President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman," he adds.
“After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, I reviewed a call between the president and the Saudi crown prince. The American people and the Khashoggi family deserve to know what was said on that call. If history is any guide, the receipts will be shocking," Vindman says.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, was murdered on October 2, 2018, by a team of Saudi government agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
His remains have never been found. U.S. intelligence and a UN investigation concluded that bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, an assessment Saudi Arabia denies.
When taking questions from journalists following his meeting with bin Salman Tuesday, Trump berated ABC reporter Mary Bruce after she asked the Crown Prince about his involvement in the murder.
"You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said, adding that bin Salman "knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that."
"You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that," Trump snapped.
Trump hosted bin Salman at a state dinner Tuesday night with guests including Elon Musk, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and billionaire investor Bill Ackerman.
Trump has long-standing financial ties to Saudi Arabia, including past business dealings and recent deals involving his family and the Trump Organization.
These connections have recently drawn scrutiny due to potential conflicts of interest, especially as the Trump family continues to pursue new business opportunities in the kingdom.
Simultaneously, Trump's administration has deepened the US's strategic defense partnership with Saudi Arabia, recently designating it a major non-NATO ally.
Vindman isn't backing down on his calls for the transcript of the call in what some say may be yet another Trump cover-up.
"Speaking on CNN on Wednesday morning ahead of Trump and the crown prince attending a Saudi investment forum, Vindman said the call he reviewed was equally disturbing and shocking 'in light of the enrichment that the Trump family has received in the ensuing years,'" The Daily Beast reports.
America News
Axios
The Hill
NBC News
Daily Voice
Raw Story
The List