Inaugural chief jokes in discussion of Khashoggi murder
By Zachary Cohen, CNN
Updated 7:58 PM ET, Wed February 13, 2019
Washington (CNN)Tom Barrack, a key donor and friend of President Donald Trump attempted to justify the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi Tuesday, arguing that the US does not have the moral authority to criticize Saudi Arabia due to its own record of "atrocities."
When asked whether Khashoggi's murder has damaged Saudi Arabia's reputation on the world stage, Barrack began his answer with a joke before attributing public outrage over the killing in the US to a Western misunderstanding of the Saudi rule of law.
"As long as you don't make me a guest at the Ritz," Barrack quipped, before moving into his response to a question from CNN's Becky Anderson at the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi ...
Barrack did not elaborate on what he meant about being "a guest at the Ritz," but the comment appeared to be a reference to the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh that was converted into a lavish prison for high-profile Saudis during the kingdom's anti-corruption sweep in late 2017 ...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/politics/tom-barrack-trump-donor-khashoggi/index.html
