Article snippet: Senators are making clear that key aspects of the U.S.-Saudi relationship are on the line as they ramp up pressure on the royal family and MORE over the disappearance of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Top Republican senators are hopeful the Trump administration will heed their warning and act on the Senate’s request for the White House to conduct a statutorily required investigation into whether Saudi sanctions are needed. But some lawmakers are going a step further by talking about a possible clampdown on the military-to-military relationship that would include nixing arms sales and withdrawing support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen’s civil war. “I think the burden of proof is now on the Saudis to demonstrate that they were not participants in any way in harming, killing or kidnapping Mr. Khashoggi,” said Sen. MORE (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The burden of proof is on them. They got to show it, and if they don’t show it, I think it will fundamentally change the nature of the relationship.” Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, has not been seen since Oct. 2 when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get paperwork for his marriage to his Turkish fiancée. Khashoggi was an insider of the Saudi royal court before he became a fierce critic, particularly of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has been living in self-imposed exile in the Washington, D.C., area since 2017 and writing columns for the Washington Post... Link to the full article to read more