Latest news with #Khashoggi
CTV News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Saudi Arabia executes a journalist after 7 years behind bars. Activists say it was over his tweets
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, listens to President Donald Trump speaking during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A prominent Saudi journalist who was arrested in 2018 and convicted on terrorism and treason charges has been executed, the kingdom said. Activist groups maintain that the charges against him were trumped up. Turki Al-Jasser was put to death on Saturday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency, after the death penalty was upheld by the nation's top court. Authorities had raided Al-Jasser's home in 2018, arresting him and seizing his computer and phones. It was not clear where his trial took place or how long it lasted. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Saudi authorities maintained that Al-Jasser was behind a social media account on X, formerly Twitter, that levied corruption allegations against Saudi royals. Al-Jasser was also said to have posted several controversial tweets about militants and militant groups. CPJ's program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna condemned the execution and said the lack of accountability in the wake of the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 allows for continued persecution of journalists in the kingdom. 'The international community's failure to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi did not just betray one journalist,' he said, adding it had 'emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to continue his persecution of the press.' A Saudi assassination team killed Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered the operation but the kingdom insists the prince was not involved in the killing. Al-Jasser ran a personal blog from 2013 to 2015 and was well-known for his articles on the Arab Spring movements that shook the Middle East in 2011, women's rights and corruption. Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism from human rights groups for its numbers and also methods of capital punishment, including beheadings and mass executions. In 2024, executions in Saudi Arabia rose to 330, according to activists and human rights groups, as the kingdom continues to tightly clamp down on dissent. Last month, a British Bank of America analyst was sentenced to a decade in prison in Saudi Arabia, apparently over a since-deleted social media post, according to his lawyer. And in 2021, a dual Saudi American national, Saad Almadi, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison on terrorism-related charges stemming from tweets he had posted while living in the United States. He was released in 2023 but has been banned from leaving the kingdom. Gabe Levin, The Associated Press
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump makes the Gulf states feel powerful, but the real test is: can they stop Israel's war?
Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East last week was an exercise in disorientation. Both in terms of rebalancing the relationship between the US and the region, and in scrambling perceptions. In Riyadh, he told the Saudi royals there would be no more 'lectures on how to live'. He lifted sanctions on Syria so that the country may have a 'fresh start', and he fawned over the camels and lavish architecture ('as a construction guy,' he said at one Qatari palace, 'this is perfect marble'). Never has Trump appeared more in his element, surrounded by the wealth of sovereigns, the marshalling power of absolute monarchies, and their calculated self-orientalisation and over-the-top flattery. The same man who enacted the Muslim ban in his first term was strolling around mosques and shrugging off the radical path to power of the Syrian president: 'Handsome guy … Tough past, but are you gonna put a choir boy in that position?' His call for recognising the new role of Gulf states both as political and economic powerhouses, and matter-of-factly taking their lead on what Syria needs right now, whatever the history, is excruciating. Because it reveals how painfully sclerotic and inconsistent previous administrations were. Joe Biden promised to take a hard line with the Saudi government for its role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and in the Yemen war, and then seemed to forget about it, or realised he couldn't follow through. From Trump, there is no such mixed signalling: you are rich, we need you. You do you. The Democrats lectured while abjectly failing to enforce the standards of international law. Trump is dispensing with the pretence of international law altogether, and in doing so ending the theatre that the US was ever some virtuous protagonist in the region. The result is a transactionalism of equals, the billion dollar deals and quid pro quos cut in plain sight. For the three Gulf countries that Trump visited, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Trump's recognition of their colossal national projects in economic transformation, and political positioning in terms of foreign policy, slaked an appetite to be seen. To be acknowledged not just as wealthy ignoramuses to be managed, but sophisticated power brokers in their own right. There is a particular brand, that is still being finessed, of shaping politics in the region and diversifying from natural resources. Take the UAE's financing of a devastating war in Sudan in order to get a foothold on the African continent, and, at the other end of the spectrum, Qatar's quiet emergence as the negotiating capital of the world. What is clear is that the centre of gravity is shifting for the US away from European capitals and transatlantic alliances, towards a region that, as far as Trump is concerned, is not bothering him with any moral condemnations on Ukraine, doesn't have the pesky matter of a voting public to worry about, and has spare billions to invest and flamboyantly flatter. Keir Starmer can have a good stab at getting Trump on side by offering a 'historic' royal invitation for a state visit, but can he project the stars and stripes on the world's tallest building? But there is a fundamental disjuncture to Trump's trip that was apparent in parts of Middle Eastern state media and political pronouncements last week. As Israel intensified its strikes in Gaza, signifying its lack of interest in negotiating any meaningful ceasefire, there was a rising clamour in condemnation of the assault. As Trump was received with US flag waving, one stark issue could not be broached – that he leads the country that is supplying the weapons and political support for a military campaign that is destabilising the region. It was a disconnect that characterised the entire trip. Among all the emphatic language and imagery of a bloc of rising powers, the question remained of what exactly that power could be used for. Is it purely one that gives these states the right to supercharge their economies through more favourable trading relationships with the US? And gives them licence to pursue foreign policy escapades and projects on their own turf without fear of censure or 'lecturing'? Or is it power that can be wielded to meaningfully influence political outcomes and persuade the US to change course on Israel-Palestine, an issue that now lies at the heart of not only Middle Eastern but Arab politics. The war has now extended to Lebanon and Syria, Jordan and Egypt are under extreme pressure, and even in ostensibly unchallenged monarchies, it is a public opinion and PR hot potato that needs to be handled very carefully. Trump is still shopping his ethnic cleansing plan that aims to 'resettle' people from Gaza, this time to Libya, and the momentum of the early days of his administration to secure a ceasefire is now gone, as Israel intensifies its campaign to occupy more parts of Gaza. As lavish scenes unfolded across the Gulf, and Trump commented on the quality of marble, there was one unavoidable thought – no food, water or medicine has been allowed into Gaza for months. The question of the limits of this new US deference is crucial in correctly estimating what just happened. Because even though it looked as if something historic took place, that Trump had blown away the cobwebs of old foreign policy in the region, broken with orthodoxies, and made overtures that overturn decades-old tropes and perceptions, it may all still come to nothing where it matters most. If these forces still have no ability to dictate what happens in their own back yards, no ability to stabilise and determine the region's political future, or indeed, assume the mantle of leadership in which they have the power and responsibility to save other Arabs from hunger, displacement and bullying, then it's all elaborate theatre with a measure of economic windfall. No lecturing is nice, but being the master of your own fate is all that really matters. Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Trump's Middle East tour showed the 'art of the deal' at its best and worst
Donald Trump's latest trip to the Middle East has revealed the president's agenda for this often-troubled region: a honey pot of business deals which will benefit the United States and, possibly, his own family. Traditionally, when US presidents have travelled through the Middle East they've had the region's many conflicts at front of mind — particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But not Trump. More than anything else on this trip, Trump locked the US into a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia than any president before him. Several US presidents have been stand-offish with the kingdom: Saudi Arabia was, after all, home to the culture that brought America the September 11 attacks, driven by Saudis such as Osama bin Laden who were imbued with Saudi Arabia's prevailing interpretation of Sunni Islam, Wahhabiism. The House of Saud — the dynasty which rules Saudi Arabia — is Wahhabist to its core: a sect that follows a fundamentalist, puritanical definition of the Koran. Under Wahhabiism, the West is widely seen as morally corrupt and to be avoided. Unless, of course, you are Trump, who comes bearing gifts of multi-billion-dollar contracts of weapons, aircraft and more. Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, had another reason to dislike Saudi Arabia — he protested at the cutting up, literally, of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who entered the Saudi embassy in Istanbul in 2018 to get a visa to return home so he could be married, and was never seen again — believed to have been cut to pieces by a chainsaw and disposed of in garbage bags. Saudi Arabia's official position was that he was killed in a "rogue operation" which went wrong and had been intended to encourage him to return to live in Saudi Arabia. As for Trump, both the horrors of September 11 and the Khashoggi murder are in the past. For him, he saw another side of Saudi Arabia — the glittering economic jewel that Riyadh represents. He signed a deal for US companies to export $US142 billion ($221 billion) worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia — one of the largest arms deals in history. That, in turn, posed an intriguing question: why does Saudi Arabia think that it may need such a powerhouse of weapons? But from a US point of view, this Trump-brokered deal, and the entire trip, was a huge success. This is Trump at his best — the businessman doing deals, this time with the full force of the presidency of the US. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been a key force behind creating business opportunities between the US and Saudi Arabia. He has also been a key driver behind Saudi Arabia and Israel potentially signing one of the Abraham Accords — agreements between Israel and various Arab countries normalising relations and creating, in effect, free trade agreements across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the brink of signing one of these when Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told me he believed Hamas timed the attack to sabotage such an agreement on the basis that it would have left the Palestinians without any leverage. Kushner's relationship with Saudi Arabia is intriguing. Forbes magazine reported that after Trump left office in 2021, Kushner set up a new private equity firm, Affinity Partners, which raised more than $US3 billion in one year, with about $US2 billion coming directly from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, run by the government. "Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman serves as the chair of the Public Investment Fund and reportedly personally intervened to approve the investment and overruled a panel of advisors who called the sum 'unsatisfactory in all aspects,'" Forbes reported. "Kushner developed a close relationship with bin Salman while he served as a White House advisor during Trump's presidency, helping to approve a $US110 million weapons sale to the kingdom after it faced public backlash for the murder of Khashoggi — which the [US] Department of National Intelligence later reported was directed by the crown prince." One issue that has arisen from the trip is why Trump did not visit Israel. Former US envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross says it is "remarkable" that Trump visited three Arab countries and not Israel, but says that it was clear that the president went to the Middle East to do business "and didn't see Israel as part of that". While travelling, Trump referred to the growing humanitarian crisis in Israel. For the last 71 days, Israel has not permitted any food, water or other supplies into Gaza, adding to what was already a desperate situation after more than 18 months of bombing. Israel says it is doing this to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages. "We're looking at Gaza, and we got to get that taken care of," Trump said. "A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There's a lot of bad things going on." He added that the US had to "help out" the Palestinians. The sense from Trump of a looming humanitarian catastrophe was echoed by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who said most Israelis were against what was now happening in Gaza and that "large numbers" of the army's commanders were against expanding the military operation and wanted the war to end. Speaking about the humanitarian crisis, he told the BBC: "It's totally intolerable, unacceptable and unforgivable, it needs to be stopped right away." Olmert said Israel must provide for the humanitarian needs of the population. "We can't allow morally the beginning of famine in Gaza. That has to stop." While Trump made a brief comment about Gaza, this week the trip was all about business opportunities. After Saudia Arabia he flew into Qatar — and another deal. Trump inked a deal for Qatar Airways to buy 160 jetliners with an option for an additional 50, a deal the White House said was worth $US96 billion. But that deal was partly overshadowed by another, less formal deal. Qatar has offered as a gift a free plane to replace the ageing Air Force One which Trump has often criticised as old and in need of replacement. And here lies Trump at his worst — he has made clear that he intends to accept the gift, saying he'd be "stupid" not to and characterising the offer as a "great gesture". What does Qatar get in return for this "gift"? Surely it opens the possibility of corruption — at what point are the hard men of Qatar going to want something in return? The gift has even raised the eyebrows of some Republicans. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, when asked generally how Trump's trip to the Middle East had gone, replied: "Well, first, quickly Qatar. I trust Qatar like I trust a rest stop bathroom. If they wanna be friendly, I wanna be friendly back. But with those guys … trust in God but tie up your camel." Fellow Republican Senator Mike Rounds said: "It seems to me that the Greeks actually had something like that happen a long time a long, long time ago. Somebody happened to have brought a golden horse inside of a community. This aircraft is beautiful and it would be great if we could accept it, but security concerns are also there." Qatar has been a major supporter of Hamas, so security issues surrounding the jet have also been raised, including by Leon Panetta, a former CIA chief. While the US has sophisticated de-bugging equipment, some bugs can be blended into walls and lights so discreetly that they can be difficult to detect. Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida raised the security concern: "Qatar's not, in my opinion, a great ally. I mean they support Hamas, and so what I'm worried about is the safety of the president of the United States." It wasn't just some Republicans who felt the plane was a bridge too far. The New York Post, one of the most prominent of the Murdoch newspapers, wrote: "Despite his administration's insistence that the jet is a gesture of goodwill to the US government, ethics watchdogs have raised concerns about transparency and foreign influence, particularly given Qatar's efforts to bolster its profile in Washington over the past decade." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the gift: "The Qatari Government has graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense. The legal details of that are still being worked out but of course, any donation to this government is always done with full compliance with the law and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency and we will continue to do that." Asked if she was worried that the Qataris may want something in return, Leavitt replied: "Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know he only works with the interests of the American people in mind." Apart from the business deals, the trip included a fascinating meeting — between Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new leader of Syria. Al-Sharaa took power from Iran's long-time ally, Bashar al-Assad, when fighters with his militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, launched an extraordinary military operation: an eight-day campaign during which they essentially marched on Syria's capital, Damascus, with little resistance. Assad fled to Moscow, allowing Al-Sharaa to seize control. One of the remarkable aspects of the meeting was that until recently the US's intelligence services have long designated Al-Sharaa and HTS as terrorists. Until December, Al-Sharaa even had a bounty on his head of $US10 million for anyone who managed to capture him. HTS was a Sunni Islamist group that made its base in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, bordering Türkiye. They became political close to Türkiye, and Al-Sharaa ran the province of about 3 million people as a province independent from Syria. Politically, they were committed to the destruction of the ruling regime of Al-Assad, who was aligned with the Shia regime of Iran. During the trip, Trump made clear that the window was closing for Iran to make a deal with the US under which it would agree to limit its enrichment of uranium. "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. But he then added that there appeared to be the chance of a new deal with Iran. "Iran has agreed to the terms," he said. "They're not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran." From what is known, Trump's Iran deal will be substantially similar to the Iran deal struck by the Obama administration (and subsequently terminated by the first Trump administration): They can maintain a civilian nuclear program but there should be "minimal" enrichment. There has now been four rounds of negotiations between the US and Iran, with a fifth planned. In the middle of the trip, news emerged that Russia's Vladimir Putin had decided he would not turn up to Istanbul for ceasefire talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For someone who said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours, Trump was very relaxed about Putin's no-show. It demonstrated, Trump said, that this war could only be solved if he turned up. There was no reprimand whatever for the Russian leader. In other words, the problem was not that Putin had shunned an opportunity in Istanbul but rather because Trump the deal-maker had not been involved. The trip to the Middle East this week was a whirlwind of deals and talk of possible deals. It showed that for all his talk of the US withdrawing from the rest of the world, Trump will in fact be eagle-eyed when it comes to opportunities around the world. But it seems that while he gives lip-service to ending wars in Ukraine or Gaza, for Trump 2.0 these trips will be opportunities for business deals rather than solving conflicts.
The Verge
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Jeff Bezos makes his most ghoulish deal yet
Watching the behavior of our tech overlords has answered questions I'd never thought to ask. How do you NDA an army of baby mamas? Is there anything more embarrassing than impersonating Benson Boone? (Also, who is Benson Boone?) And now, the latest: how long after a sovereign ruler of a repressive state murders one of your columnists should you make a deal with him? The answer, it turns out, is a little over six years. In October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a writer for the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, was killed and dismembered with the approval of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (better known as MBS) after Khashoggi entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get paperwork for his upcoming marriage. His body has never been found. On May 13th, Bezos' Amazon announced it would work with Humain, MBS' AI company, to build an 'AI Zone' in Saudi Arabia — and the two companies will spend more than $5 billion in the process. Saudi money is old news in the tech industry — the Public Investment Fund has sloshed into lots of startups, either directly or via intermediaries such as SoftBank. Morally bankrupt moneygrubbers such as Andreessen Horowitz have been wooing Saudi funds for a while. (Perhaps that's the real reason they endorsed the Saudis' preferred candidate?) This isn't the first deal for Amazon, either. In March, Amazon pledged to invest $5 billion to build data centers in a country that's scrambling to look futuristic. In 2024, Saudi Arabia said it wanted to build an AI-powered economy. There's a fancy website for Project 2030, which I guess is meant to distract us from all the oil money. That date isn't a coincidence — many projections say that's when oil production will peak and then decline. Regardless of when the actual peak occurs, a global shift away from petroleum threatens Saudi Arabia's wealth. That's why the country is behaving like a dipshit startup. Take Neom, billed as the city of the future, vaporware at a previously unimagined scale that also served as a 'key tool' for MBS to consolidate power, according to Ali Dogan, a researcher at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin. Khashoggi's murder was a blow to the project, as luminaries such as OpenAI's Sam Altman and former US energy secretary Ernest Moniz suspended their involvement. A number of companies publicly renounced Saudi money — at least, for a while. Neom is moving down the entirely predictable vaporware path. It keeps getting delayed and downsized, which makes sense because it's no longer the city of the future and a spectacular investment opportunity once it's built — it's just another city. But, according to Saudi officials, we won't have to worry about that for another 50, or possibly 100, years. In the meantime, though, contracts! Investment! AI! Look, I don't expect ethics out of Altman or any of his ilk. But for basic reasons of maintaining employee morale, I would hesitate to invest in a state that literally murdered one of my contractors. And didn't merely murder him — but dismembered and then disappeared him. An opportunity the state had only because Khashoggi wanted to get married. Murder is bad enough, but every single detail makes it worse. Lately, it seems Bezos has been dismantling the Washington Post, one of the US' premier journalistic institutions — putting British failure machine Will Lewis, known for his role in the UK phone-hacking scandal, in charge. Last year, the Post didn't endorse a candidate in the US presidential race for the first time since 1960, resulting in more than 200,000 canceled subscriptions. Its stars have been fleeing in droves. (Ann Telnaes, who was driven to quit the Post after a cartoon making fun of Bezos was killed, recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her work. Oops!) Now, after all Bezos' posturing about the free press, he's cutting deals with people who murder journalists for saying inconvenient things. But maybe we should have seen that coming when he banned op-ed writers from opposing 'free speech and the markets.' Does the freedom to assassinate count as one of the personal liberties Bezos claims to treasure? It's all so spineless. I mean, we already know that MBS may have hacked Bezos' phone, but I guess that's water under the bridge. Or maybe not. Maybe MBS got something real good in that hack. Impossible to say whether this is motivated by kompromat or greed, I suppose. But whatever the motive, we know one thing: it takes five years for Bezos to go from posting his photo op with the headstone of a murdered reporter to making billion-dollar deals with his killer.
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The Independent
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘What ever happened to Never Forget?': 9/11 families blast Trump for warm embrace of Saudi officials
When then-U.S. President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia in July 2022, hoping to 'reset' relations with the kingdom and its rulers, commentators condemned the trip itself as 'an act of weakness,' 'political cowardice,' and a 'capitulation' to a murderous autocrat in the wake of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing and dismemberment four years earlier, and the September 11 terrorist attacks before that. Fifteen of the 19 Al Qaeda operatives who carried out the attacks were Saudis, and although the Saudi Arabian government has long denied any direct role in 9/11, some evidence suggests that Saudi Arabia was not only the primary source of funding for the attackers, but that the Saudi regime knew about the plot that killed more than 3,000 people and did nothing to stop it. After Biden arrived, he greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud – or, 'MBS,' for short – who is said to have approved Khashoggi's execution, with a friendly smile and a fist bump, drawing outrage. When Donald Trump, the current occupant of the Oval Office, jetted off to Saudi Arabia earlier this week, he went far beyond Biden's comparatively muted pleasantries. If MBS still craves validation, the 47th president delivered – despite once having blamed the kingdom entirely for 9/11. 'What a great place, but more importantly, what great people,' Trump marveled in Riyadh. 'I want to thank his royal highness, the crown prince, for that incredible introduction. He's an incredible man. I've known him a long time now. There's nobody like him.' The compliments and extravagant amiability didn't sit well with some. One 9/11 widow told The Independent that it was painful to watch Trump's glad-handing with the leader of the nation she blames for her husband's death, asking, 'Haven't we been through enough?' Or, as a retired firefighter who was at the World Trade Center on September 11 said, 'What ever happened to 'Never Forget?'' The apparently awed president was treated to an over-the-top reception during his Middle East visit featuring, among other things, a squadron of jet fighters that escorted Air Force One in for a landing, an honor guard brandishing golden sword and a coterie of Arabian horses to accompany his motorcade. 'He's your greatest representative, greatest representative,' Trump said of MBS. 'And if I didn't like him, I'd get out of here so fast. You know that, don't you? He knows me well. I do – I like him a lot. I like him too much. That's why we give so much, you know? Too much. I like you too much.' Trump, who announced a $600 billion investment package with the kingdom, continued to lavish praise onto his young host, spotlighting MBS's economic record while addressing him like a lifelong pal: 'Mohammed… [c]ritics doubted that it was possible, what you've done, but over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong.' Unlike Trump, many family members of those who died on 9/11, along with first-responders who tried to save them, are less enamored of MBS. Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was on the 104th floor of the WTC's North Tower when the first plane hit, is the national chair of 9/11 Families United. Among other things, she continues to slam Trump for taking 'blood money' from LIV Golf, a professional league backed by the Saudi government's sovereign wealth fund, by hosting tournaments at his Bedminster, New Jersey country club. On Wednesday, Strada described Trump's behavior in Riyadh as 'appalling.' 'I've heard from a lot of [9/11] family members, and it really saddens me to hear how painful it was to watch all of this,' Strada told The Independent. '... We cannot overlook [everything] just because we're going to begin a new chapter of commerce. The truth needs to still be told.' Strada worries that Trump will now abandon his past promises to declassify the remaining intelligence materials that she and others see as the key to proving, once and for all, Saudi complicity in 9/11. 'It is a national security risk to bury the truth,' she said. 'He's hurting a whole population of people who have been through hell. Haven't we been through enough?' The White House did not provide a comment about the families concerns in time for this report. New York City firefighter Adam Lake was at Ground Zero on September 11, searching for survivors, then searching 'The Pile' for bodies. He was later forced to retire after being diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer that he continues to battle. Lake, whose SoHo firehouse lost 11 men in the World Trade Center attack, told The Independent, 'Really, this guy's not for anybody but himself… What ever happened to 'Never Forget?' F*** you, you know?' Saudi Arabia 'masterminded and funded the worst attack on American soil, ever,' Lake emphasized, saying, 'If you worked that day, you remember what you went through… well, [how do you feel] when the president is in bed with the people that attacked us?' There are multiple Trump supporters among Lake's ex-colleagues, and Lake wonders how they will reconcile the president's stance. 'I'm just a guy who lost a ton of people [on 9/11] and was [medically] retired from a job I wanted to keep doing,' he said. As Robert Kobus talked about his 36 year-old sister Deborah, who on 9/11 died on 'the impact floor' of Two World Trade Center, his voice caught frequently and he paused several times to compose himself. 'It was just terrible, that day,' Kobus told The Independent. However, Kobus, a former FBI civilian employee who was forced out of the bureau after 35 years for blowing the whistle on alleged time-card fraud, said his anger at Saudi officialdom of a quarter-century ago outweighs whatever he may feel about Trump or the prince. 'At that time, there were some very bad people in the Saudi government,' Kobus said. 'Should we despise the current leaders of Saudi Arabia for what happened 20-something years ago? No. If they made business deals, whatever. I'm not going to disparage the president, I'm going to talk about Saudi Arabia and their complicity 25 years ago.' To that end, Kobus thinks the U.S. government's still-secret evidence will reveal Saudi responsibility. 'You can't hide the truth,' he asserted. 'The truth will never be hidden, no matter how much they try.' Kristen Breitweiser is a World Trade Center widow-turned-activist who successfully pushed for the formation of the 9/11 Commission but later found its final report to be 'utterly hollow.' She said she considers herself 'pragmatic' about resolving the issue once and for all, and distanced herself from Strada's organization. Breitweiser's focus at this stage is fixed on the alleged shortcomings of the U.S. intelligence community vis-a-vis 9/11, as opposed to Saudi Arabian culpability. She said that 9/11 widows and children have not received appropriate compensation from the government, nor have they 'been provided any modicum of justice.' 'I don't think President Trump is inclined to hold the kingdom accountable, I don't know if we have the evidence to hold the kingdom accountable, I don't know if we have the will as a country to hold the kingdom accountable,' Breitweiser told The Independent. Breitweiser said she 'did not look to the kingdom to protect my husband that day,' but rather, to the FBI, CIA and other domestic agencies charged with protecting the nation. She would like to know 'why this country is not demanding accountability and justice from our own government before we start looking overseas.' 'We have more evidence to support holding the U.S. intelligence apparatus accountable than we do the kingdom,' Breitweiser asserted. 'I'm not saying the kingdom didn't have anything to do with 9/11, but our intelligence community does not have clean hands with regard to their failure to prevent the attacks.' The U.S. government has an obligation to compensate those who lost loved ones on 9/11 with payments 'in alignment with what other victims have received in the past,' according to Breitweiser. 'Let's start the accountability there.' 'I recognize that what I'm saying is the proverbial 3rd rail,' Breitweiser concluded. 'But I don't care. I just want justice for my murdered husband.'
