Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a matched gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Democratic Congressman Accuses Kushner of Orchestrating Khashoggi Killing

A Democratic congressman suggested Friday on CNN that Jared Kushner may have orchestrated the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Daily Beast reported.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said — without citing evidence — that Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, might have provided Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a “hit list.”

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, was declared missing last week after entering the country’s consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials say that he was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate by a team connected to bin Salman, the Associated Press reported.

Castro said on CNN that there is “reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with U.S. intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS, in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi.” Asked to back up the claims, he said, “I’ve seen reporting to that effect… that needs to be investigated.”

Kushner has developed a relationship with the crown prince — during a trip to the kingdom, they reportedly chatted and discussed strategy most nights until 4 a.m. — but there has been no other accusation of his involvement in the murder, according to The Daily Beast.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.