Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioOvernight Defense: Pentagon redirects pandemic funding to defense contractors | US planning for full Afghanistan withdrawal by May | Anti-Trump GOP group puts ads in military papers Democrats step up hardball tactics as Supreme Court fight heats up Press: Notorious RBG vs Notorious GOP MORE (R-Fla.) said Sunday that the U.S. doesn't need direct evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"We don't need direct evidence that he ordered the code red on this thing," Rubio told CNN's "State of the Union."

"The bottom line is that there is no way that 17 people close to him got a charter plane, flew to a third country, went into a consulate, killed and chopped up a man, and flew back, and he didn't know about it, much less order it."

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The CIA has reportedly concluded that the crown prince ordered the killing of Khashoggi, which the crown prince has continued to deny.

Officials say Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post contributor, in early October, reportedly torturing him and then dismembering his body.

GOP lawmakers have been divided since Khashoggi's death, with some emphasizing the geopolitical concerns surrounding the U.S.'s alliance with Saudi Arabia, and others arguing that it is essentially certain that the crown prince ordered his killing.

President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE has taken the former position, underscoring the benefits of the U.S.'s relationship with the kingdom and the difficulty of definitively establishing whether or not Crown Prince Mohammed ordered the killing.

Defense Secretary James Mattis James Norman MattisBiden courts veterans amid fallout from Trump military controversies Trump says he wanted to take out Syria's Assad but Mattis opposed it Gary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November MORE said last week that the Trump administration is still investigating the crown prince's involvement.

“We are continuing to review. I am quite satisfied we will find more evidence of what happened,” Mattis told reporters.