Jamal Khashoggi Murder Tape Not Heard By Pompeo, Despite Report: State Department

The Department of State denied reports of Turkey saying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heard the audio recording of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

"Secretary Pompeo has neither heard a tape nor has he seen a transcript related to Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

A similar denial was maintained by Pompeo, on his way back from Istanbul, Turkey, after a meeting with Turkish authorities regarding the journalist’s disappearance Wednesday.

"I don’t have anything to say about that," he told reporters who asked him if he had seen the tape that proved Khashoggi had been murdered inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

A Turkish official told ABC News on the condition of anonymity Pompeo had not only heard Khashoggi’s murder tape but he had also been given a transcript of the recording. The official added they believed Khashoggi struggled against his attackers for eight minutes before being strangled to death.

Pompeo also met with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia before traveling to Turkey to discuss the issue of Khashoggi’s disappearance. The secretary of state briefed President Donald Trump on both the meetings Thursday.

Although reports said Trump had shown an interest in listening to the audio recording that Pompeo had reportedly heard, it wass unclear whether the president did listen to the recording or read the transcript of the tape.

But after the meeting with Pompeo, Trump appeared to have changed his stance on Khashoggi’s disappearance. The White House canceled Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, where he was supposed to attend an investment conference hosted by the country’s crown prince.

Hours after news of the abrupt cancellation, Trump told reporters "it certainly looks like" Khashoggi was no longer alive, before boarding Air Force One to fly to Montana for a campaign rally.

"It certainly looks that way to me, it's very sad," he added.

The president said the U.S. was waiting for the results of separate investigations carried out by authorities of both Saudi Arabia and Turkey before issuing a "very strong statement” regarding the incident.

He also said consequences for Saudi Arabia "will have to be very severe. It's bad, bad stuff" if it was proven they were behind Khashoggi’s death.

Following his briefing with Trump, Pompeo told reporters it was important for the administration to get all the facts from both sides before reacting.

"I told President Trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that, so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding" the journalist’s disappearance, Pompeo said, CNN reported. "At which point, we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr. Khashoggi.”

Unlike Trump, Pompeo refused to accept that Khashoggi was dead.

“There are lots of stories out there about what has happened. We're just going to allow the process to move forward, allow the facts to unfold and as they unfold. As we make a determination for ourselves about what happened there based on the facts that are presented to us, the United States will determine what the appropriate response might be," he said.