White House Press SecretaryĀ Jen PsakiĀ is defending PresidentĀ Joe Bidenāsreported decisionĀ not to take action against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in response to a U.S. intelligence report that found he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
CNNās Dana Bash noted that then-candidate Biden vowed to hold Saudi leaders accountable for the murder of Khashoggi and asked why he is not taking action against the crown prince even after a U.S. intelligence report determined that he ordered the killing of Khashoggi in 2018.
Psaki argued that the release of the intelligence report was part of the effort to hold Saudi officials accountable. She also pointed to new sanctions of other officials connected to the killing.
However, Dana Bash argued, āIsnāt punishing them like punishing the hitman and not the mob boss who actually put out the hit?ā
Psaki noted that the U.S. typically does not sanction the leaders of a country and argued that there are āmore effective ways to make sure this doesnāt happen again,ā while leaving open the door for diplomacy.
āYou say āhold them accountableā and it just doesnāt look like that when it comes to the notion of justice,ā Bash retorted.
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She continued, āThe question is do you feel like justice has really been done when it comes specifically to the crown prince and his role in the brutal murder of a journalist, because the journalist was working on stories that were challenging him?ā
Psaki said the murder of Khashoggi was a āhorrific crime,ā but stressed that, āIt needs to be clear that our relationship with Saudi Arabia is one that is in the interest of the United States to maintain.ā
She also vowed the U.S. will hold Saudi Arabia accountable for human rights abuses.
On Friday, a U.S. intelligence report was released that found that the crown prince ordered an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi. The Biden administration announced new sanctions on some officials involved, but not on the crown prince.