Trump sends CIA director to Turkey to review Khashoggi case

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump dispatched the director of the CIA to Turkey in a quest to get more information about the death of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi and weigh a possible U.S. response.

Trump said Monday he's not satisfied with the explanations he's heard about the Washington Post columnist and critic of the kingdom who died Oct. 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia has said he was killed in a fistfight, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that Khashoggi's death was part of a planned operation.

"It appears, on the eve of the murder, 15 Saudi security personnel, intelligence officials and a forensics expert arrived in our country," Erdogan said. "It has been ascertained that six of them left on Oct. 2" later that evening on two planes.

"The Saudi Arabian administration has taken an important step by admitting the murder," Erdogan said. "As of now we expect of them to openly bring to light those responsible – from the highest ranked to the lowest – and to bring them to justice."

On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House: "We're going to get to the bottom of it. We have people over in Saudi Arabia now. We have top intelligence people in Turkey."

"We're going to know a lot over the next two days about the Saudi situation," said Trump. "It's a very sad thing."

The CIA declined to confirm that Gina Haspel, who directs the agency, is in Turkey. But a U.S. official said she is in the country to review the case. The official, who declined to disclose details about what Haspel is doing in Turkey, was not authorized to discuss the trip publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Trump spoke Sunday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the son of Saudi King Salman.