After a classified briefing between lawmakers and the CIA on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, senators united in a rare bipartisan agreement that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was directly involved in the killing. Still, that didn’t stop Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) from defending President Donald Trump’s apparent unwillingness to hold Mohammed responsible.

Wow -- @RepChrisStewart downplays Saudi Arabia's responsibility for murdering the dissident journalist and Virginia resident Khashoggi: "Journalists disappear all over the country. 20 have been killed in Mexico. You don't think it happens in Turkey and China? Of course it does." pic.twitter.com/L5cJgYQwmK — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 4, 2018

“We have to have to have a relationship with some players that we don’t agree with,” Stewart told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday after the briefing. “Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty journalists have been killed in Mexico. You don’t think it happens in Turkey and China? Of course it does. And yet we have to have a relationship with these individuals or with these countries.”

He serves on the House Intelligence Committee.

As The Daily Beast points out, Stewart’s comments are similar to ones Trump made last month when speaking to reporters.

“I’m not going to destroy the world economy and I’m not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia,” Trump said at the time.

There remained no question among most senators on Tuesday after the closed-door briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel that Mohammed was directly connected to the killing. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the crown prince was “complicit in the murder” of Khashoggi.

“It’s not a smoking gun. It’s a smoking saw,” Graham told reporters, referring to the bone saw allegedly used by Saudi authorities to dismember the journalist.

Lindsey Graham: Saudi Arabia's crown prince is a "wrecking ball" who's "complicit in the murder" of Jamal Khashoggi to the "highest level possible."



"Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally and the relationship is worth saving, but not at all costs." Via ABC. pic.twitter.com/0gnWIA2ka3 — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 4, 2018

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) echoed that conclusion.

Bob Corker: "I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince, MBS, ordered the killing" and "monitored the killing" of Jamal Khashoggi. "If he was in front of a jury he would be convicted in 30 minutes: guilty." Via ABC. pic.twitter.com/rGEEkp3Qvg — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 4, 2018

“Let me just put it this way: I think if he was in front of a jury, he would have a unanimous verdict in about 30 minutes. Guilty. A guilty verdict,” Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after the briefing. “He murdered him. No question in my mind. I had almost no question before. I have no question whatsoever now: The crown prince directed the murder and was kept apprised of the situation all the way through.”