Durbin says testimony on Khashoggi killing ‘not persuasive’ without CIA director

Senators are expressing disappointment that officials from the intelligence community were not present at a closed-door briefing over the U.S. response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said the White House made the decision that CIA Director Gina Haspel would not appear at Wednesday’s briefing alongside the secretaries of state and defense. He told reporters that the testimony was “interesting, but not persuasive” because she was absent.

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey accused the Trump administration of attempting to “stonewall” the Senate and called the absence of an intelligence official “outrageous.”

Sen. Bob Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was disappointed Haspel was not present at the briefing, but declined further comment.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince must have at least known about a plot to kill Khashoggi. President Donald Trump has equivocated over who is to blame.