{UAH} Trump says Saudis staged "worst cover-up" ever

Folks;

Left with no more wiggle room to defend his wealthy Saudi benefactors, President Trump is finally calling out the Saudis for the macabre killing of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

The fallout should not be limited to visa revocations, as Secretary Pompeo says. 

The culprits, all of whom have been identified, must pay the full price in this terrorist killing. And the author of the murder, be it a King or a Prince, also ought to pay.

The Saudis are known to use intra-familial killings as a form of succession plan. This murderous tendency has to be cut off.

Pojim

WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Saudi authorities staged the "worst cover-up ever" in the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi this month, as the United States vowed to revoke visas of some of those believed to be responsible.

Trump spoke hours after Turkey's president, Tayyip Erdogan, dismissed Saudi efforts to blame Khashoggi's death on rogue operatives. Erdogan urged Riyadh to search "from top to bottom" to uncover those behind Khashoggi's death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, an incident that has prompted global outrage and strained relations between Riyadh and Washington.

Asked by a reporter in the White House Oval Office how the Khashoggi killing could have happened, Trump said: "They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups."

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist.

Trump's comments in recent days have ranged from threatening Saudi Arabia with "very severe" consequences and mentioning possible economic sanctions, to more conciliatory remarks highlighting the country's role as a U.S. ally against Iran and Islamist militants, as well as a major purchaser of U.S. arms.

On Tuesday, Trump said the Khashoggi matter was handled badly by Saudi officials. "Bad deal, should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up. And they had the worst cover-up ever," Trump said.

Trump did not give his views on who was ultimately responsible. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States has identified some of the Saudi government and security officials it believes were involved in Khashoggi's murder and would take appropriate actions including revoking U.S. visas.

As the crisis unfolded over the past three weeks, Saudi Arabia changed its tune on Khashoggi. Riyadh initially denied knowledge of Khashoggi's fate before saying on Saturday he was killed in a fight in the consulate, an account met with skepticism from several Western governments, straining their relations with the world's biggest oil exporter.

Saudi state media said on Saturday King Salman fired five officials over the killing carried out by a 15-man hit team, including Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide who ran social media for Prince Mohammed. According to two intelligence sources, Qahtani ran Khashoggi's killing by giving orders over Skype.

King Salman, 82, has handed the day-to-day runn