Khashoggi Disappearance: Ohio Politician Demands Investigation

LORAIN, OH — The disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia has spurred domestic debate about how the U.S. should respond. Northeast Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the House, ventured into the fray this week, aruging it's time Congress demanded an examination of the disappearance.

The Democrat from Ohio's 9th District released a statement on Monday morning asking for a full investigation into Khashoggi's "untimely death." She was echoing statements made by U.S. Senate Republicans, who said Saudi Arabia's crown prince "crossed a line," the Associated Press reported.

“As gruesome, repugnant horrors about Saudi Arabia’s repressive kingdom emerge in the tragic death of Jamal Khashoggi, its reputation as the home to “Chop-Chop Square” is verified again — a place where oil and money regularly trump liberty and free expression," Kaptur said.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said over the weekend that he believed Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi royal known as MBS, was behind the killing of Khashoggi. The journalist disappeared after walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Turkish media has been reporting that a hit squad traveled from Saudi Arabia, specifically to kill Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi prince.

"U.S. leaders, beginning with our President and his relatives with financial interests in the Saudi kingdom, must ask themselves on whose side they stand: Liberty or gold-infused tyranny? Congress must demand a full accounting of the facts and circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Jamal Khashoggi,” Kaptur added.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, signed a bipartisan letter seeking an investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance. The senator said the journalist's disappearance was "incredibly concerning" and added "we need answers."

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