Clapper: Killing of Saudi journalist displays that Trump will ‘accept the words of autocrats’

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Monday said that President Trump’s response to the killing of a Saudi journalist shows his willingness to “accept the words of autocrats.”

“It does concern me that apparently [Trump] is willing to accept the words of autocrats like [Russian president Vladimir] Putin and now [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman over what his own intelligence community says,” Clapper said on CNN.

{mosads}Clapper’s comments came as Trump faces growing scrutiny over how his administration has responded to the killing of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. 

The Washington Post reported last week that the CIA has concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed ordered the assassination of Khashoggi. The journalist was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2. 

But Trump on Saturday said that the CIA’s assessment was “premature” and that it remained “too early” to make a conclusion.

“As of this moment, we were told that he did not play a role, we’re gonna have to find out what they say,” he said to reporters in California.

Clapper said that it was “completely infeasible” that such a complex operation would have occurred without the “knowledge, acquiescence, and, I believe, direction of Mohammad bin Salman.”

He added that believing the crown prince’s denials over the U.S. intelligence community’s findings would be detrimental for the nation. 

The Saudi government called The Washington Post’s reporting about the CIA’s findings false last week. 

Turkish officials and multiple U.S. lawmakers have said they believe the crown prince was involved in the operation to kill Khashoggi. 

“I think the evidence is overwhelming that the crown prince was involved. I don’t think we can sweep this under the rug,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.