US Senators air frustration after Khashoggi briefing

WASHINGTON, Mar 05 (AP): Senators left a closed-door briefing with Trump administration officials on Monday deeply frustrated by the lack of new information on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with some raising the prospect of placing new sanctions on the government of Saudi Arabia.

Lawmakers had instructed President Donald Trump to order an investigation into Khashoggi's killing by invoking the Global Magnitsky Act. The request was made in October, which gave the president 120 days to respond.

But the White House declined to submit a report by the deadline, angering members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the panel, called the briefing "a farce" and said Trump still needs to give Congress an answer.

"The law's very clear, there needed to be a determination," Menendez said.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the briefing Monday contained "zero" new information. He criticised the lack of an intelligence official among the briefers, a move he described as "purposeful."

"They don't want us to have a conversation about the intelligence," he said, referring to the White House. "These folks had no new information and were not permitted to give us any new information."