GOP senators: Mnuchin should not go to Saudi Arabia

A growing number of senators are urging Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to not attend a summit in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the disappearance of a U.S.-based journalist.

GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and frequent critic of President Trump’s, became the latest senator to publicly say Mnuchin should not attend the Future Investment Initiative, which is scheduled for next week.

“Secretary Mnuchin should not be going to Riyadh,” Flake said in a tweet.

Secretary Mnuchin should not be going to Riyadh.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) October 16, 2018

GOP Sen. Todd Young (Ind.), another member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a separate tweet on Tuesday that he does not believe Mnuchin should attend the conference.

“America’s basic and fundamental values demand a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. I continue to believe that Secretary Mnuchin should not attend the investment conference in Riyadh next week,” Young said.

America’s basic and fundamental values demand a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. I continue to believe that Secretary Mnuchin should not attend the investment conference in Riyadh next week.

— Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) October 16, 2018

And Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, indicated on Tuesday that he did not want Mnuchin to attend, saying it shouldn’t be a “hard decision” for Trump to ask the top Treasury official to cancel his trip to the conference.

The Trump Administration is still determining what’s more important to it: Business investments in Saudi Arabia, or stopping bloodshed in Yemen and standing up for core U.S. values regarding the brutal murder of a Washington Post journalist.

This shouldn’t be a hard decision. https://t.co/xv5s2Dsr74

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) October 16, 2018

{mosads}Several high-profile figures — including retired general and KKR executive David Petraeus and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon — have pulled out of the conference in the wake of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Trump told reporters in Georgia that he he had not made a final decision on whether Mnuchin would back out of attending the conference, but expected a decision would be made by Friday.

Khashoggi has been missing since Oct. 2, when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get paperwork needed for his marriage.

CNN reported on Monday that Saudi Arabia was readying a report that would acknowledge Khashoggi’s death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong. One source told CNN that the report would likely find that the interrogation was carried out “without clearance.”

Khashoggi’s disappearance has put a new strain on the U.S.-Saudi relationship, with Trump facing bipartisan pressure from Congress to enact swift punishment on Riyadh if officials there can’t provide evidence that Khashoggi is still alive.

But Trump, as recently as Tuesday afternoon, has repeated claims by top Saudi officials that they were not involved in Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that he “just spoke” with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate.”

Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate. He was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018