Jared Kushner says administration still 'fact-finding' in Jamal Khashoggi death investigation

Jared Kushner said Monday that the Trump administration is still working to determine all the facts surrounding the death of Jamal Khashoggi.

"Right now, as an administration, we're more in the fact-finding phase," Kushner, a White House senior adviser, told Van Jones at the CITIZEN by CNN conference.

"We're getting as many facts as we can," Kushner said, "then we'll determine which facts are credible."

Kushner's comments came in the opening session of a daylong conference organized by CNN that will explore a range of topics with newsmakers like former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi two weeks before the 2018 midterm elections.

Kushner has cultivated a close relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader.

Saudi Arabia has presented a shifting narrative of what happened to Khashoggi. After weeks of denying involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance, on Friday Saudi Arabia said that he was killed in the Istanbul consulate, saying his death was the result of a "fistfight." A Saudi source close to the royal palace later told CNN that the Washington Post journalist died in a chokehold. On Sunday, its foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, went further, describing Khashoggi's death on Fox News as a "murder" and a "tremendous mistake." He also said they "don't know where the body is."

"We are determined to uncover every stone. We are determined to find out all the facts. And we are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder," the foreign minister said in the interview.

The administration is approaching Saudi Arabia's explanation for Khashoggi's death with "our eyes wide open," Kushner said.

"I think the President is focused on what's good for America," Kushner said. "What are our strategic interests. Where do we share interests with other countries, let's work toward those."

"The Middle East is a rough place. It's been a rough place for a very long time," he said. "We have to be able to pursue our strategic objectives. But we also have to deal with what is obviously a terrible situation."

Kushner said it was important to maintain the US-Saudi alliance.

"We have to be able to work with our allies, and Saudi Arabia has, I think, been a very strong ally in terms of pushing back on Iran's aggression," Kushner said.

Kushner said his advice to Prince Mohammed has been to "be transparent" in his proceedings.

Kushner said it was too early to say whether Prince Mohammed, with whom he's cultivated a close relationship, had taken his advice to remain transparent in the investigation into Khashoggi's death.

"The world is watching," Kushner said was his advice to Prince Mohammed. "This is a very, very serious accusation. A very serious situation. To be sure you're transparent and to take this very seriously."

"We'll see" if he takes that advice, Kushner said.

Still, the President's son-in-law offered praise for reforms enacted in the kingdom since Prince Mohammed assumed power, saying they helped advance American interests.

"A lot of the reforms they've been making there to help us track down the terror financing and also to push back against the people who are perverting the religion, have been very historic over the last year," he said. "So we're hopeful we can keep pushing forward with a lot of the initiatives that further American interests and that push back Iran's aggression, so we're going to stay focused on that."

By Kevin Liptak, CNN. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The Gayly – October 22, 2018 @ 11:10 a.m. CDT.