“Once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious,” a U.S. official said of request tied to Khashoggi killing.
WASHINGTON — The White House is looking for ways to remove an enemy of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. in order to placate Turkey over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to two senior U.S. officials and two other people briefed on the requests.
Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen in an attempt to persuade Erdogan to ease pressure on the Saudi government, the four sources said.
The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey’s case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.
They said the White House specifically wanted details about Gulen’s residency status in the U.S. Gulen has a Green Card, according to two people familiar with the matter. He has been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.
Career officials at the agencies pushed back on the White House requests, the U.S. officials and people briefed on the requests said.
“At first there were eye rolls, but once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious,” said a senior U.S. official involved in the process.
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NEW: Exclusive: Trump admin. officials asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from US in attempt to persuade Turkish Pres. Erdogan to ease pressure on Saudi gov't, four sources say. https://t.co/klVl1lfwgU
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 15, 2018
Let's just never ever ever lecture another country about human rights, ever. https://t.co/WytKaivHbk
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) November 15, 2018
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