Trudeau's Spy Chief Has Heard Audio Recordings in Khashoggi Case

(Bloomberg) -- The head of a Canadian spy agency has listened to audio tapes related to the death of Jamal Khashoggi, and traveled to Turkey to discuss the matter.

David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, traveled to Turkey at the request of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a spokesman for the agency said. Trudeau said in a news conference Monday that Canadian officials had listened to the audio tapes, but that he personally hadn’t.

“At the request of Prime Minister Trudeau, the CSIS Director traveled to Turkey to discuss the investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” John Townsend said in an emailed statement, first reported by Global News. “‘I can confirm that the Director of CSIS has listened to the audio tapes in question and has provided a briefing for the prime minister and other Canadian officials on his visit to Turkey.” He declined to say what the recordings included.

Trudeau said earlier Monday from Paris that Canadian officials had listened to the audio recordings but didn’t reveal their content. “Canada has been fully briefed up on what Turkey had to share,” he said at a press conference, adding he’d thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his “strength in responding to the Khashoggi situation.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Josh Wingrove in Ottawa at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier

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