Khashoggi editor: Please spare me the ‘Mattis stands up for US values’ takes

The editor of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s at The Washington Post on Thursday blasted outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis, saying he was part of administration efforts to “downplay” CIA evidence linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Khashoggi’s death.

Karen Attiah asked on Twitter to be spared from the “‘Mattis stands up for US values’ takes” in the media after Mattis said he was resigning from the Trump administration.

Mattis was part of the White House’s attempts to downplay CIA evidence linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to the murder of @WashingtonPost writer Jamal #Khashoggi —- he claimed there was “no smoking gun”.

Please spare me the “Mattis stands up for US values” takes.

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) December 21, 2018

Khashoggi, a journalist who was critical of the Saudi government in his columns in The Washington Post, was killed in October when he went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

{mosads}Mattis had said that there was “no smoking gun” linking the crown prince to the death of Khashoggi, contradicting a reported conclusion from the CIA. 

Mattis announced his resignation on Thursday, sending a note to President Trump saying he deserved a secretary “whose views are better aligned with yours.”

Both Republicans and Democrats have praised Mattis and said they were troubled by his abrupt departure, which came one day after Trump announced that he would withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) called Mattis “a comfort to many of us as a voice of stability in the Trump administration.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was “distressed” by the news.

“So I was sorry to learn that Secretary Mattis, who shares those clear principles, will soon depart the administration. But I am particularly distressed that he is resigning due to sharp differences with the president on these and other key aspects of America’s global leadership,” McConnell said in a statement.