‘A License to Kill’: ‘Washington Post’ Shreds Biden Over Immunity for Saudi Crown Prince in Khashoggi Hit

Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan accused President Joe Biden of granting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a “license to kill” Friday.

Ryan was stirred to action after it was announced the U.S. backed immunity for bin Salman for a civil lawsuit filed over the grizzly 2018 slaying of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The paper’s public relations department issued a statement attributed to Ryan on Friday afternoon:

In granting legal immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Biden is failing to uphold America’s most cherished values. He is granting a license to kill to one of the world’s most egregious human-rights abusers who is responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist.

While legitimate heads of government should be protected against frivolous lawsuits, the Saudis decision to make MBS prime minister was a cynical, calculated effort to manipulate the law and shield him from accountability. By going along with this scheme, President Biden is turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality. The American people – and those wronged by MBS in Saudi Arabia and around the world – deserve better.

Khashoggi, a U.S.-based critic of the Saudi government, was murdered in 2018 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The CIA quickly connected bin Salman to the slaying with a high degree of confidence.

Khashoggi’s fiancee is suing the crown prince in the U.S., but the Biden administration has argued bin Salman is a head of state, and is immune from civil litigation.

Biden drew widespread condemnation in July when he fist-bumped bin Salman while on a trip to Saudi Arabia. On the campaign trail in 2020, then-candidate Biden vowed to make the Saudis a “pariah” over the killing of Khashoggi and other human rights violations.