US President Donald Trump on Friday denied a report claiming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heard an audio recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's alleged murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was never given or shown a Transcript or Video of the Saudi Consulate event. FAKE NEWS!" Trump tweeted.
His comments come a day after ABC News reported that Pompeo had listened to the recording and was given a transcript of it during meetings this week in Turkey scheduled in response to Khashoggi's disappearance.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly denied the report, which was based on the account of one senior Turkish official.
"Secretary Pompeo has neither heard a tape nor has he seen a transcript related to Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance," the State Department said in a statement Thursday evening.
Pompeo himself pointedly dismissed the report, telling journalists traveling with him in Mexico, according to The Hill, "I’ve seen no tape ... I’ve heard no tape. I’ve seen no transcript."
"The network that reported that ought to pull down the headline that says I have," he added.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the US has requested audio and video from Turkey related to the disappearance of Khashoggi.
"We have asked for it, if it exists," Trump said in the Oval Office, later adding that it "probably does."
"I want to find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week," he added.
On Thursday, Trump said that it "certainly looks" as though Khashoggi is dead, and stressed that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)