White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday mentioned President Biden, who's visiting Saudi Arabia subsequent month, believes that the nation’s crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, ordered the 2018 operation that killed Washington Submit columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden will journey to Saudi Arabia in mid-July as he seeks to thaw US-Saudi relations amid record-high gasoline costs. He has agreed to satisfy with MBS on that journey regardless of beforehand looking for to sideline bin Salman.
Khashoggi’s fiancee this week beseeched Biden to cancel the assembly, telling him, “you're dishonoring your self” and “placing oil over rules” by agreeing to the sit-down.
Jean-Pierre was pressed repeatedly Thursday on the matter at her common briefing by Washington Submit reporter Matt Viser, who cited a US intelligence neighborhood report that assessed that the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia ordered the operation.
“The chief abstract of this report says ‘we assess that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the operation’ to seize and kill [Khashoggi],” Viser mentioned.
“And he launched the report, proper?” Jean-Pierre mentioned, at first sidestepping whether or not Biden agreed with the discovering.
“However does he agree with that evaluation?” Viser pressed.
“I’m telling you that is one thing that the president takes very, very severely. And he launched that report, so clearly he wouldn't launch that report if it’s not one thing he believed in,” Jean-Pierre mentioned.
The press secretary additionally had contentious exchanges Thursday when pressed by journalists on whether or not the White Home goes to proceed to launch dates for when Biden examined detrimental for COVID-19.
Biden, 79, has by no means examined optimistic for the coronavirus “that I do know,” she mentioned.
“We might be clear about that,” she informed Viser after a collection of different inquiries on the matter from first- and second-row briefing room reporters.
Jean-Pierre mentioned Biden is examined weekly for the virus until he's deemed to be a “shut contact” with an contaminated particular person, as outlined by CDC tips. She mentioned he had not been in shut contact with somebody recognized to have the virus.
The coronavirus has continued to brush by means of Biden’s inside circle, sickening Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg final week, and on Wednesday, his chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, examined optimistic.
“The president has a daily testing cadence decided by his physician. As we’ve mentioned many occasions, if he have been to be an in depth contact as outlined by the CDC, as a result of that’s what we comply with, we might replace his testing cadence accordingly and share that with all of you,” she mentioned.
However Peter Alexander of NBC pressed Jean-Pierre on whether or not public discover of the president testing detrimental was changing into rarer.
“I’m simply confused as a result of previously, guys all the time informed us the date of the newest check. So why can’t you inform us?” Alexander mentioned, including throughout a back-and-forth with the press secretary, “Why has that modified? As a result of previously they all the time informed us.”
Jean-Pierre in the end mentioned, “He will get examined as soon as every week. I don’t have the date in entrance of entrance of me right now” and concluded by repeating that if Biden have been to be in shut contact with somebody who examined optimistic, the frequency of testing would change.
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