Joaquin Castro Floats Conspiracy Theory That Jared Kushner Orchestrated Khashoggi Murder [#TXPOLITICS 24/7]

Well, maybe Joaquin Castro isn't going to run for president after all. Or maybe he just launched his campaign to win over the Hard Left in his party.

Castro told CNN that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner had something to do with the murder of Jamal Khashogghi.

On CNN Friday, Castro claimed there was "reporting out there" that Jared Kushner may have some involvement in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The member of the House intelligence committee said Trump’s son-in-law "delivered a hit list" to the Saudi crown prince, who is accused of ordering the murder the Washington Post journalist, who had been living in the US on a work visa after reporting critically on the Saudi royal family for several years.

The Saudi government only this weekend admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its Turkish consulate. They've yet to admit to the more grisly details, for which Turkey says they have evidence.

Various media outlets and the watchdog site Mediaite reported the exchange:

"Let me get to the point that I think is most disturbing right now,” he told anchor Poppy Harlow, when asked for his reaction to Khashoggi's murder. “The 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 then may have acted on that and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi. And if that’s the case…” 

Harlow immediately jumped in to say, “Just to be clear, congressman, we don’t have––I just want to be clear for our viewers, we do not have that reporting. I’m not sure where you’re getting that from.”

While Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump, is close to the Saudi crown prince, no one has accused Kushner of any involvement, let alone orchestration, in the Khashoggi killing.

And he denies that he gave any such list to the Crown Prince, who runs the Saudi Kingdom for his elderly father, King Salman. There HAS BEEN, however, some reporting suggesting that he had supplied a list of dissidents to the prince last year, allegedly compiled by US intelligence services. Again, Kushner denies any such thing occurred.


Castro himself almost immediately tried to "walk back" the claim on twitter, after the Daily Beast rushed out a story on the CNN interview. Castro Tweeted:

To be clear, I did not intend to accuse @jaredkushner of orchestrating anything. Based on press reporting, I’m asking for Congress to open an investigation of whether any US Intelligence was shared with Saudi Arabia that led to political persecution or killing of #Khashoggi 

(The Daily Beast changed the headline of its original story after the "Walk-back" by Castro.)

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, joined by many conservative commentators, erupted on Twitter, going to bat for the boss's son-in-law:

.@JoaquinCastrotx’s allegation is an outrageous slanderous lie without a shred of proof, it’s reprehensible for a sitting Congressman and supposed “news” outlets to continue citing an article that used unnamed sources and was completely debunked.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro Tweeted:

 And I accuse Castro of eating baby elephants based on _______

And commentator Hugh Hewitt accused Castro of full-blown Trump Derangement Syndrome:

This has to be among the most irresponsible accusations ever leveled without a whit of evidence for it, one obviously reflecting full-blown TDS.

ANALYSIS:
Calling for in investigation into the thing he accused Kushner of is hardly an apology, or a clarification, of the original accusation, but a restating of the accusation. Some would say, even doubling down.

It's unclear whether this will play well with Democrats in the primaries if Castro does seek the nomination in 2020. After the DNA Disaster Elizabeth Warren put herself through this week, we know that even hard-core Democrats can turn on those who are considered "toxic" to their chances against Trump - whom they desperately want to beat in 2020.

Republicans would argue that Castro certainly has the "unsubstantiated accusation" concept down, honed by Democrats during the Kavanaugh hearings. And this is becoming a hugely popular tactic with which to attack Republicans.

What's clear is that whether there's any smoke to this fiery conspiracy theory, Castro has become a target for the Right, and a hero for some on the Left for calling Kushner out.