"I will be calling him, I will be calling at some point King Salman," Trump said on Friday when asked if he has talked to the king about the Khashoggi matter.
Trump stressed that Khashoggi’s disappearance is a serious problem and US officials are looking "very hard" to get answers. It is potentially a really terrible situation, he added.
"We seek urgent answers as to whether Mr. Khashoggi was in fact contacted about the credible threat to his life and liberty posed by the Saudi plot to capture him; the precise date on which any arm of the US intelligence community first became aware of the Saudi plan to detain Mr. Khashoggi; and whether the intelligence community will declassify portions of US intercepts of Saudi officials relevant to Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance," the letter says.
Pocan and Khanna are encouraging other lawmakers to sign the letter before it is sent to Coats next week.
The letter also warns that lawmakers will use the full force of Congressional oversight and investigatory powers to obtain these answers if they are not provided. The letter also stresses that the information is vital to lawmakers, as both the House of Representatives and the Senate will in the coming weeks consider resolutions to end unauthorized US-Saudi military cooperation in Yemen.
READ MORE: US Intel Reportedly Knew of Saudi Plan to 'Lure & Capture' Now-Missing Khashoggi
"It is not surprising that intelligence agencies around the world strongly believe the Saudi Arabian government is complicit in Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance… Saudi Arabia has a long history of disregarding America’s values and acting against the best interests of our country," Jones wrote.
In his letter, the lawmaker also recalled that in 2016 the House Intelligence Committee released 28 pages of the congressional joint inquiry into the 9/11 attacks on the United States, which implicated the Saudi royal family in financially supporting the hijackers.
READ MORE: Ex-US Energy Secretary Stops Advising on Saudi Megacity Due to Missing Khashoggi
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that US intelligence services intercepted communications among Saudi officials discussing plans to capture the journalist. Khashoggi was a columnist for the newspaper.
Khashoggi has been missing since October 2, when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage. Turkish authorities reportedly say they have evidence that Khashoggi was murdered at the consulate, but Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.
