Washington Post blasts Biden for giving Saudi crown prince a 'license to kill'

Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan on Friday excoriated President Joe Biden for his administration's decision to shield Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a suit connected to the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"In granting legal immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Biden is failing to uphold America's most cherished values," Ryan said in a statement. "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 Jama Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist."

Earlier on Friday, the State Department announced its determination that bin Salman enjoyed civil immunity in the suit related to Khashoggi's murder as a foreign head of state.

"Under common law principles of immunity articulated by the Executive Branch in the exercise of its Constitutional authority over foreign affairs and informed by customary international law, Prime Minister bin Salman as a sitting head of government is immune while in office from the jurisdiction of the United States District Court in this suit," the State Department wrote in a letter. "In making this immunity determination, the Department of State takes no view on the merits of the present suit and reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi."

Ryan took exception to the decision, agreeing that foreign heads of state "should be protected against frivolous lawsuits," but asserted that the Saudis had appointed MBS as Prime Minister as a legal ploy to grant him immunity in the case.

"President Biden is turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality," Ryan concluded.

Biden's relationship with the crown prince has long been the source of criticism. Earlier this year, he visited the Arab monarchy in pursuit of a deal to boost oil production to offset the price hikes stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

After promising to hold MBS accountable for Khashoggi's murder, Biden was recorded "fist-bumping" with him during the July trip. The president eventually left the country without securing a deal.

Khashoggi was not the the only victim of the regime's draconian approach to criticism. U.S. citizen Saad Almadi remains in Saudi custody after he was arrested in connection with years-old tweets he made criticizing the regime. Almadi's son, Ibrahim, accused the president of compromising on human rights in Saudi Arabia for the sake of political expediency.

"Biden just cares about votes. He doesn't care about my father, he doesn't care about American citizens," the younger Almadi said in October. "He got sold for oil, but they didn't receive the oil. So there is no father, no oil. There's nothing — there is only shame, that is what the White House has got now."

Biden's alleged softness on Riyadh appears to not have paid off. The Saudi's last month suggested that Biden had attempted to delay an OPEC+ production cut until after the midterm elections, but failed to convince the bloc to do so.