‘Trump part of Khashoggi cover-up’

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump is “part of the cover-up as to what happened” in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Clinton, who was also Trump's campaign rival in the 2016 presidential election, kicked off a paid speaking tour with her husband and former President Bill Clinton in Toronto and took the opportunity to attack the president's response to the killing.

“We have a president who is part of the cover-up as to what happened in that consulate or embassy when Mr. Khashoggi was murdered,” Clinton said Tuesday.

“And we have a president and those closest to him who have their own personal commercial interests,” she added.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there.

Trump, who has stated that he plans to maintain relations with Saudi Arabia, has come under criticism from many in Washington who think the U.S. should downgrade its ties with the Kingdom and end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

The president also refused to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the crime after reports emerged that the CIA concluded that the prince ordered the killing, saying "maybe he did, maybe he didn't!"