Officials said that the decision for Haspel not to appear in front of the committee came from the White House, but the national security adviser, John Bolton, denied it. As of Tuesday, however, the Senate was told by the administration to expect only Pompeo and Mattis at the Wednesday briefing. The White House did not respond to a query on the absence of an intelligence official. “This is further evidence that the White House is trying to outdo the Saudis in carrying out the worst cover-up in modern history,” Riedel added. “People who speak Arabic have listened to the tape and given us the substance of what’s in it,” Bolton said a White House briefing.

Source: The Guardian November 27, 2018 18:04 UTC