CNN anchor Jake Tapper said Sunday on his show “State of the Union” that President Joe Biden’s move to grant the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman legal immunity over his role in Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has the “stink of complicity.”
Tapper said, “The Biden administration sided with this man, even though its own office of the Director of National Intelligence previously wrote, ‘We assess that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture and kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.’ At issue was a 2020 lawsuit against the 37-year-old and others, accusing them of acting in a conspiracy and with premeditation to kidnap, bind, drug, torture, and assassinate Khashoggi, a resident of the U.S. who wrote for The Washington Post at the time.”
He continued, “This week, the Biden Justice Department says it sided with MBS against the lawsuit against MBS is now prime minister. The sitting head of government and is immune from this suit per precedent and international law.”
Tapper added, “A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that MBS mocked President Biden in private, making fun of the 79-year-old’s gaffes and questioning his mental acuity. According to people inside the Saudi government, nothing gets leaked by the Saudi government to The Wall Street Journal without MBS signing off on it. President Biden, what are you — what are we — getting in exchange for letting this thug get away with murder, Mr. President? Other than the stink of complicity.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.