WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump declined to answer a reporter's question on whether the CIA had a record of a call in which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued instructions to silence journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"I do not want to talk about that, you have to ask them," Trump was quoted as saying during a conversation with reporters in his Florida resort on Thursday.
Reuters news agency said it had asked the CIA in this regard, but the agency declined to comment.
The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet said on Thursday that CIA director Gina Haskel hinted to Turkish officials last month that the agency had a record of a call in which the Saudi crown prince issued instructions to silence Khashoggi.
The call was made between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his brother Khalid, the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
The US media had published a week ago a CIA assessment of Khashoggi's death and said the agency had concluded that Mohammed bin Salman had issued the order to kill Khashoggi.
According to US media reports, CIA has seen a number of contacts, including Khaled bin Salman's communication with Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, urging him to go to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul at the request of his brother the crown prince.