Pompeo says USA 'not covering up' Khashoggi murder

It alleged US intelligence agencies intercepted a 2017 conversation between Aldakhil and Mohammed bin Salman in which the crown prince threatened to kill Khashoggi if he did not stop criticizing the Saudi government and return to the kingdom.

"Congress doesn't have to wait for the president to fulfill his duty", Mr. Murphy said on CNN's "State of the Union".

Khashoggi, an insider-turned-critic of the Saudi ruling regime, was killed and dismembered by people close to the crown prince after entering to pick up documents for his wedding.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Democratic Sen.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said some U.S. legislators were "providing ammunition to the "death to America" crowd".

"Seeing as the Trump administration has no intention of insisting on full accountability for Mr. Khashoggi's murderers, it is time for Congress to step in and impose real consequences to fundamentally re-examine our relationship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen", Mr. Menendez said in a statement.

The US government will continue investigating the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to Hungary on Monday. After initially offering contradictory statements, the kingdom confirmed that Saudi agents killed him inside the consulate, but denied its senior leaders were behind the killing.

He echoed the United Nations blame for the Houthis, vowing that Saudi Arabia would "absolutely" allow passage of food through ports in Yemen.

President Donald Trump, rejecting his own intelligence officials' findings, has apparently chosen to believe MBS' claim that he played no role in the gruesome murder of Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi royal family who was killed after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

Four months on, the slain journalist's body has still not been recovered. The crown prince had nothing to do with this.

The report naming Turki Aldakhil, former general manager of Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, was published by The New York Times on Thursday.

"I think for anyone to think they can dictate what we should do or what our leadership should do is preposterous", he said.