The White House is looking for ways to remove FETO ringleader Fetullah Gülen, who is the mastermind of bloody July 15 coup attemp in 2016, that left over 250 martyred and more than 2,200 others injured, from the United States of America, senior U.S. officials were quoted by NBC as giving information related to the issue.
Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing FETO ringleader Fetullah Gulen, 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.
Gülen, who arrived in the United States in 1999, currently resides in a luxurious retreat in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. He was already facing criminal investigations related to his group when the coup attempt that took place in 2016.
Turkey pressed the U.S. for his extradition after the coup attempt, sending hundreds of folders full of evidence implicating Gülen and FETÖ in the coup attempt.
The United States, where the terrorist group runs a network of charter schools, is a favorite safe haven for fugitive FETÖ members.
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.
A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment. The FBI also declined to comment.
The State Department, Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
NBC also reported that Trump government could seek to use Gülen's extradition as a bargaining piece in the furor of Saudi Arabia's killing of Khashoggi, if true, only continue Washington's political handling of the case.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post who is known for being a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate. Yet, the Saudi government claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder the journalist.
Earlier Thursday the Saudi state prosecutor's office announced that 21 individuals had been taken into custody over the killing and charges had been set against 11 of them.
Five of them face possible execution for the murder, according to the prosecutor.
Hours later, the U.S. Treasury rolled out sanctions against 17 Saudis, including Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the Saudi Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi.
The U.S. has sheltered the crown prince from its criticism of the kingdom over the killing of the journalist. Erdoğan, in contrast, has kept pressure on the kingdom by releasing evidence of the kiling that puts Crown Prince Mohammed inexcusably close to crime.
Saudi Arabia is a critical ally of the U.S., not only for its economic resources but also for Washington's regional goals of countering Iran and brokering a so-called peace deal between Israel and Palestine.
