And the Winner for the Worst Communications Award in 2018 Goes to …

The Saudi Arabian government.

Let’s give the Crown Prince a round of applause for the entry, “The gang that can’t talk straight.”

Before going further, the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was an act against humanity. I am by no means making light of it.

As I followed the unraveling of the murder case in the news, it occurred to me that a chronology of communications from the Saudi government would be a revealing exercise. I’ve captured quotes and statements from the Saudis in The New York Times stories from the time of the first report on October 3 through the end of November.

No doubt, the Saudi government figured their original lie could weather the storm. Once the audio recording of what went down in the consulate surfaced from the Turkish government, they had no choice but to come up with a Plan B: a rogue operation gone bad.

And when the facts undermined Plan B, they were forced to come up with a Plan C, which focused on distancing the Crown Prince from the crime.

How will this end?

The Saudis are hoping that the passage of time will move this from view. The antics of the White House and the multiple investigations into President Trump’s bad behavior certainly play in their favor.

Still, how can you forget a narrative that goes from “Mr. Khashoggi left the consulate” to “There was no bone saw” to “The Crown Prince didn’t know”?

I won’t.