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Congress aims to keep spotlight on Saudi Arabia one year after Khashoggi murder

One year after Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Congress still seeks to hold Saudi Arabia accountable despite resistance from President Donald Trump and his allies in the Senate.
A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia's consulate where the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen, in Istanbul, Turkey October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1A48F23C20

Exactly one year after Saudi Arabia murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul, Congress has yet to pass legislation holding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable for his alleged role in the murder.

House Democrats are wrangling with the Republican-held Senate to keep a Saudi sanctions provision in the annual defense authorization bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has refused to put another bipartisan Saudi sanctions package that goes even further on the floor in the face of a veto threat from the White House. And last week, CNN reported that the White House took the highly unusual step of moving the rough transcript of President Donald Trump’s call with the crown prince in the wake of the Khashoggi murder last year to a highly restricted, top-secret server.  

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