“No one is above the law.” — then-vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sept. 2, 2008.
“No one is above the law.” — former Vice President Joe Biden, June 22, 2018.
“The State Department recognizes and allows the immunity of Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman as a sitting head of government of a foreign state.” — Joe Biden’s State Department, Nov. 17, 2022.
Apparently, when Biden says “no one is above the law,” what he means by “one” is “Republican president.” When he spoke those words in 2008, he was referring to former President George W. Bush; in 2018, he mentioned no names, but the oblique reference to then-President Donald Trump was pretty clear.
Also pretty clear is the fact that Biden doesn’t mean for the phrase to apply to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was accused by Biden’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence last year of ordering the death and dismemberment of U.S. resident and Washington Post correspondent Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Despite a campaign promise to hold Khashoggi’s killers accountable, Biden’s administration has now all but guaranteed that bin Salman will never face consequences for his actions.
The State Department wrote to the Department of Justice Thursday, suggesting that the latter “submit a suggestion of immunity to the district court” that was hearing a lawsuit by Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, and DAWN, a pro-democracy group founded by Khashoggi.
According to experts who spoke to The Guardian about the case, the Biden administration’s position “will likely lead judge John Bates to dismiss [the] civil case.”
Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to “reassess our relationship with the Kingdom, end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil,” like so many such promises, has not aged well.
Biden’s statement at the time remains up at joebiden.com, but we’ve taken a screen shot both for your convenience and on the off chance that this web page might somehow mysteriously disappear.
“[W]e owe it to his memory to fight for a more just and free world,” Biden wrote then, and he wasn’t wrong.
What a difference a couple of years make — not to mention a presidential election.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the current executive director of DAWN, shared the State Department’s letter on Twitter.
BREAKING: Biden administration suggests immunity for MBS in DAWN & Cengiz lawsuit for murder of #JamalKhashoggi:
breaking promise for accountability, Biden guarantees MBS impunity. pic.twitter.com/72n3dV53Gx
— Sarah Leah Whitson (@sarahleah1) November 18, 2022
Cengiz said the federal government’s decision essentially made Biden an accomplice after the fact to Khashoggi’s murder, saying that “Jamal died again today.”
#Biden saved the murderer by granting immunity. He saved the criminal and got involved in the crime himself. Let's see who will save you in the hereafter? @POTUS https://t.co/TVFx4xSa3j
— Hatice Cengiz خديجة (@mercan_resifi) November 18, 2022
Jamal died again today #injustice #JamalKhashoggi
— Hatice Cengiz خديجة (@mercan_resifi) November 18, 2022
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, who wrote The Guardian’s piece, accused the administration of trying to “bury” the news by filing it with the court late at night, call the decision “No doubt a dark moment” for Cengiz.
One small detail: the administration has tried to bury the news on Thursday night. Facing a deadline of midnight, it filed its decision after 10pm.
— Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) November 18, 2022
It’s a dark moment, too, for international justice, freedom of the press, truth, promises — and anyone who actually believes that no one is above the law.