Biden defends move not to punish Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing

President claims sanction for Mohammed bin Salman would have been diplomatically unprecedented but overstates US-Saudi ties

President Joe Biden has defended his decision to waive any punishment for Saudi Arabia's crown prince in the murder of a US-based journalist, claiming that acting against the Saudi royal would have been diplomatically unprecedented for the United States.

In an ABC News interview that aired on Wednesday, Biden discussed his administration's decision to exempt Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from any penalties for the October 2018, killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Last month, the Biden administration released a declassified US intelligence report which concluded that the crown prince authorized the team of Saudi security and intelligence officials that killed Khashoggi.