The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.19 What ACTUALLY Happened To Khashoggi, Why It Matters, & What Happens Next?

Episode Date: October 19, 2018

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Friday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And today what I want to do is focus on a massive story we've covered a little in the past, but has just really, really developed. And what I'm talking about here is the situation with Jamal Khashoggi. Now if you haven't been keeping up with Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, I highly recommend you watch our previous shows. I'll link to them down below. But if you don't have the time to give you an oversimplified TLDR, Khashoggi is a Saudi journalist who left his country over fear of his safety. And he disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2nd.

Now the Saudis claim that he left, but Turkish officials have claimed that he was killed inside. And when we last covered Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, the Saudis were reportedly preparing some kind of admission regarding his death. But even with that report, as of now, we still haven't seen that.

But with that said, we've seen a lot happen since Monday. So the Saudis and the Turks have been discussing a search of the Saudi consulate for several days. And the reason that this took so long is that under international law, diplomatic posts are considered sovereign territory. So basically not anybody can just walk in, including a host country security official.

Now that said, what we saw this week is that finally, on Monday, 13 days after Khashoggi's disappearance, Turkish investigators were allowed into the Saudi consulate to search for evidence of Khashoggi's death. But at the same time, reportedly just hours before the Turkish investigators were allowed into the consulate, you had journalists photographing a cleaning crew entering the Saudi consulate to search for evidence of Khashoggi's death. But at the same time, reportedly just hours before the Turkish investigators were allowed into the consulate, you had journalists photographing a cleaning crew

entering the Saudi consulate. They reportedly had buckets, mops, and what appeared to be cleaning supplies. Now just because these two or three people went in, that does not 100% guarantee that something happened, but it has been a focus. But that said, the first day that the Turkish officials were investigating the consulate,

investigators were reportedly there for nine hours. And according to two officials speaking to the Washington Post, chemicals had been used in the consulate. investigators were reportedly there for nine hours. And according to two officials speaking to the Washington Post, chemicals had been used in the consulate. Officials also saying they found, quote, "'Certain evidence of Khashoggi's death "'while searching the consulate.'" And there was also talk of toxic materials

being a point of interest. And to elaborate on some of that, you had President of Turkey Erdogan saying, "'The investigation is looking into many things, "'such as toxic materials and those materials "'being removed by painting them over.'" Then on Tuesday, a high-level official reportedly said that they had found evidence that Khashoggi was killed at the consulate, but they didn't elaborate.

Then on Wednesday, Turkish forensic police searched the Saudi Consul General's residence. While there, they were reportedly accompanied by Saudi investigators, and they searched the roof, deployed a drone over the area, and used ultraviolet lights. Also later that day, Turkish officials returned to the Saudi consulate and searched overnight. Also of note here is that just the day before, Saudi Arabian Consul General Mohammed Al-Otaibi left Turkey for Saudi Arabia. Also, we've seen some new specific details emerging about Khashoggi's last moments being reported.

And these details are being drawn from the audio recording that Turkish officials reportedly have. And according to these reports, Khashoggi was murdered in the office of the Consul General right after he entered the consulate. He was reportedly beaten, drugged, and killed. Not only that, but the security forces removed his fingers and eventually decapitated him.

Although at this time, reportedly it's not clear whether he was killed before or after this happened. Also, there are these grim details in the reports, like the doctor doing the dismemberment, telling another person to listen to music while they did it. In another part of the recording, the Consul General is reportedly heard saying, "'Do this outside, you will put me in trouble."

To which another person replied, "'If you want to live when you come back to Arabia, shut up. Also the search has expanded. According to Turkish state news, 15 Turkish nationals that work at the Saudi consulate were questioned. Investigators are also reportedly testing for a match between DNA found at the Saudi consulate

and consul's home and Khashoggi's DNA. And at the same time, they're searching in a forest about 10 miles outside of Istanbul for Khashoggi's body. This because officials believe that at least two cars from the consulate traveled in that direction the day of the killing. We've also seen more information come out about the people who were reportedly involved in Khashoggi's disappearance, and it appears that a lot of them have Saudi intelligence or security background.

One man who was caught on surveillance footage before Khashoggi arrived at the consulate was a person potentially close to Mohammed bin Salman. According to these reports, he's been a member of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage during trips abroad, although it's not really clear about their exact relationship. Also, according to passport scans from Turkish officials, the head of forensic medicine at the Saudi Ministry of the Interior was identified. He's reportedly known for his swift and mobile autopsies. We've also had several other officials being identified

in Turkish newspapers, including those who identify themselves in Saudi social media as members of Saudi security forces and the Royal Guard. There have also been two others who identify themselves as employees of the Crown Prince's office and have been named in Saudi official press releases. And then of course, with this story, we have the topic of US government response.

Last we covered Khashoggi, Mike Pompeo was being sent to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He ended up arriving in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He met with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the foreign minister. Afterwards, Pompeo issued a statement about his meeting saying, we had direct and candid conversations. I emphasize the importance of conducting a thorough,

transparent and timely investigation and the Saudi leadership pledged to deliver precisely on that. the importance of conducting a thorough, transparent and timely investigation and the Saudi leadership pledged to deliver precisely on that. During each of today's meetings, the Saudi leadership strongly denied any knowledge of what took place in their consulate in Istanbul. On Tuesday, we also saw President Trump issuing a statement on Twitter writing, "'Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

"'who totally denied any knowledge of what took place "'in their Turkish consulate,' and adding he was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "'during the call and told me that he has already started and will rapidly expand a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly. Then on Wednesday, Pompeo was also asked

whether he believes Saudi denials, to which he replied, "'I think that's a reasonable thing to do, "'to give them that opportunity, "'and then we'll all get to judge, "'we'll all get to evaluate the work that they do. "'I'm waiting for the investigation to be completed.'" And soon after this, he traveled to Turkey to meet with leadership there.

There, he met with President Erdogan, as well as Turkey's intelligence chief, foreign minister, and national security advisor. Also, an interesting part about Pompeo's visit with the Saudis that's been pointed out is that the United States actually received a $100 million payment on Tuesday, that also being when Pompeo landed in Saudi Arabia.

Now, regarding the specifics of that money, that $100 million was reportedly promised to the Trump administration over the summer, and this money was reportedly to help stabilize areas liberated from ISIS in Syria and would go to USAID and programs like infrastructure, repair, health, education, and sanitation. And reportedly, according to an American official

involved in Syrian policy, the money arrived in US accounts on Tuesday and they said that the timing was not coincidental. But on the other hand, you had Brett McGurk, US envoy to the coalition fighting ISIS saying, "'The specific transfer of funds has been long in process "'and has nothing to do with other events "'or the Secretary's visit.'"

We're hearing different things depending on the source, but in any case, Pompeo ends up returning from his trip. He spoke briefly about that trip and his meeting with the president. I told President Trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we too have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that,

which point we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incidents surrounding Mr. Khashoggi. I think it's important for us all to remember, too, we have a long, since 1932, a long strategic relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They continue to be an important counterterrorism partner. They have custody of the two holy sites. They're an important strategic alliance of the United States,

and we need to be mindful of that as well. We also saw Trump briefly speaking with reporters where he said it certainly looks like Khashoggi is dead. It certainly looks that way to me. It's very sad. It certainly looks that way. Also adding that the US response will have to be very severe for the Saudis if they did it.

Now also another part of this story and a big part of it is how much money is playing a role in everyone's decision making. We've seen many media outlets and several other important figures pulling out of Saudi Arabia's future investment initiative. And in fact, yesterday we saw Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announcing he would not be going,

making the announcement on Twitter saying, "'Just met with Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo "'and we have decided I will not be participating "'in the Future Investment Initiative Summit "'in Saudi Arabia.'" And according to a senior administration official, a key factor driving Mnuchin's decision was the withdrawal of several of his European counterparts,

including the ministers from France and the UK. Both Mnuchin and Trump had reportedly been waiting to see what other countries would do before deciding themselves. Also another factor was pressure from business leaders who had already made the decision to withdraw from the conference over the past week. And this included the likes of chief executives of Uber,

JP Morgan, Chase, Viacom, the heads of asset managers, BlackRock and Blackstone Group, top officials from Ford Motor Company, Google, a number of media outlets, including CNBC, The New York Times, Bloomberg, CNN, The Financial Times, Fox Business, also withdrawing. Also regarding money and business connections, people have looked to Trump directly.

We saw Trump go on Twitter Tuesday saying that he has no business interests in Saudi Arabia, writing, for the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia or Russia for that matter. Any suggestion that I have is just more fake news of which there is plenty. But on that note, you even had a Fox News research Twitter account pointing out

that that is not exactly correct. And they provide a variety of examples all the way back from 1991, where he sold a yacht to a Saudi prince, to 2001, where he sold the 45th floor of Trump World Tower to Saudis, he has a June 2015 quote of, I love the Saudis, many in Trump Tower.

In August of 2015, a Trump quote, they buy apartments from me, spend 40 to 50 million. Also in 2017, Saudi lobbyists spent 270,000 at Trump DC Hotel. But at the same time, you could argue that technically he doesn't have any business interests in Saudi Arabia, but rather that he's just done business with the Saudis. Also, there's been the non-Trump specific money. At stake, it appears you have numerous arms deals that Donald Trump has previously mentioned. They're spending $110 billion purchasing military equipment and other

things. If we don't sell it to them, they'll say, well, thank you very much. We'll buy it from Russia or thank you very much. We'll buy it from China. That doesn't help us. So that's likely been a big consideration for Trump, especially about whether he plans to take action. And with this story, I think it's also important to talk about Khashoggi's last words, and I don't mean in the Istanbul Consulate. On Wednesday, we saw the Washington Post publish an opinion piece by Khashoggi that was sent

by his translator slash assistant the day after he was reported missing. And according to a note by the Post's global opinions editor, Karen Atiyah, they held off on publishing this in hopes that he would be found, but she has now said, "'Now I have to accept that is not going to happen. And the article centered around the idea of freedom in the Arab world after he saw the 2018 freedom in the world report and realized there is only one country in the Arab world that has been classified as free. That nation is Tunisia. Three other countries are listed as partly free,

that's Jordan, Morocco, and Kuwait, but the rest are classified as not free. As a result, Arabs living in these countries are either uninformed or misinformed. They are unable to adequately address, much less publicly discuss, matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives. And adding, a state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim

to this false narrative. Sadly, this situation is unlikely to change. And Khashoggi goes on to describe the ways that Arab nations are suppressing the press and information, writing, the Arab world is facing its own version of an iron curtain imposed not by external actors, but through domestic forces vying for power. And in closing, he writes, the Arab world needs

a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices. We suffer from poverty, mismanagement, and poor education through the creation of an independent international forum isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda,

ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face. And I will say, given this situation, it feels like his words matter more than ever. And as we have often seen, the attempt to crack down on something being said has resulted in it getting an even larger megaphone. Now as far as what happens next,

I mean, this is still a developing situation. So there may be updates already. And as we wait to see official statements, what we end up seeing are things like, according to the New York Times, US officials are increasingly certain that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a hand in Khashoggi's death.

And reportedly they are more confident because they have growing circumstantial evidence of Salman's involvement. And along with that, intelligence agencies are apparently preparing to report to Trump with findings about how involved Salman was. But also of course, the thing to keep in mind is given all of the different angles

that we've mentioned before, as well as the fact that at stake, I mean, you're talking about a relationship that centers around Saudi Arabia being a strategic ally in that region. They're a huge counterweight to Iran's influence. The United States is a backer of their war with Yemen. Pompeo has mentioned Saudi Arabia has a long history

of cooperation with the United States. What will Trump and his administration do or not do? And we're talking about a situation that has just continued to escalate and become more concerning by the day. And here's what I'll say as far as my personal takeaway for the three people still watching this video at this point.

As far as do I think that Saudi Arabia did this? Yes, I think without a doubt. I mean, it's been so long and it's incredibly easy to go Hey look, we have video of him leaving everything's good And I feel like someone is going to take the fall But it is not obviously going to be a Mohammed bin Salman You've already seen Donald Trump introduced the idea of rogue killers, and I think some people thought like oh assassins No I think what he's talking about there and probably what the argument is going to be is that someone potentially one of the people that are

Already listed as suspects did this without Mohammed bin Salman knowing, even though it seems like there are a lot of people involved, even though it seems incredibly unlikely that Mohammed bin Salman would be just in the dark about this. And in fact, as I'm finishing up this video, some of the last reports we're now seeing is that there are reports that the Saudi government

might be planning to blame a high-ranking general. Although it is important to point out that as of right now, nothing official has appeared. But if this were to happen, it's really just a question of how effective would this deflection be? And as far as if Donald Trump would actually follow through with severe actions against Saudi Arabia, I don't personally believe so.

I know some people have argued that point from a place of, well, yeah, well obviously Donald Trump hates journalists. I mean, people pointing to yesterday where he was joking at a rally about, remember that Republican that body slammed that reporter? It's not gonna be time, I'm just curious if you have the actor right now.

Okay, speak with Shane, please. I'm tired of you guys. The last guy that came here, you did the same thing. You were the guardian. Yes, and you just broke my glasses. You're the last guy that did the same damn thing. You just body slammed me and broke my glasses. Get the hell out of here.

Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my kind of. Right, Gianforte, people saying, "'See, he hates journalists.' I don't even think it's that. Although my argument here isn't that Donald Trump has a fantastic opinion of all journalists. I personally believe, and I'm oversimplifying this, Donald Trump doesn't want to mess up a good deal. Right, and he wouldn't be the first

US president and administration to look the other way regarding the actions of Saudi Arabia, because everything they provide strategically and monetarily. Right, same as why he went from calling Kim Jong-un, obviously one of the greatest human rights violators, went from Rocket Man to he's a man that cares about his people, we fell in love.

And on that note, I don't even think a lot of the people that support him believe that he thinks that. But they see it as him trying to handle the situation, thinking about a bigger picture and taking out the kind of human element. And understand, I'm not saying I think going light on Saudi Arabia here is the right thing to do. I don't think that's the right message to send the world.

But it is my personal prediction as to what would happen. I'd be more than happy to be wrong. See that Trump actually does have a severe action or something that is larger than political theater. I guess I just personally don't believe this is going to be the administration that takes a grand moral stand to the detriment of finances or strategy. Right, something that sounds big on paper,

but it's actually pretty soft. But once again, that is my personal takeaway and I pass the question off to you. I know there's a lot. I know the kind of broad question is, what do you think actually happened? What do you think Donald Trump will do? With that said, that is where I'm gonna end today's show.

And of course, if you liked, appreciated today's show, hit that like button. If you like these daily dives into the news, you wanna support, hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, welcome. If you'd like more in the future, hit that subscribe button. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you Monday.