'The coverup begins': Political commentators call BS on Saudis' 'implausible' claim that Khashoggi died in a 'fistfight'

Moments after the Saudi government admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was indeed dead, political commentators began calling BS en masse on the Saudis' claim that the columnist died inside the consulate in a "fistfight."

While responding on-air to the news, CNN's Wolf Blitzer pointed out that "this notion of a fistfight resulting in [Khashoggi's] death sounds very, very suspicious."

"He is a 60-year-old man surrounded by 15 Saudi nationals, high-ranking Saudi officials who were brought in to deal with him," Blitzer added. "All of a sudden there's a fistfight and he winds up dead, that sounds very suspicious to me."

"The Saudi cover-up begins," the New York Times' Nicholas Kristof observed. "The aim is to obfuscate and protect the Mad Prince by pinning this murder on fall guys. Will Trump join the cover-up? We will soon find out."

The Times' Maggie Haberman pointed out that the Saudis were using "the authoritarian version of the Robert Chambers defense," referencing the infamous "Preppie Killer" who was found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. Chambers, Haberman noted, claimed that "things got out of hand" while having "rough sex" with Levin, who was found naked and slaughtered in New York City's Central Park in the early hours of a morning in 1986.

The Times' reporter linked to a tweet from her colleague Michael Barbaro, who noted that it "does not sound plausible" that Khashoggi died in a struggle following a fistfight.

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