Skip to main content

Intel: Trump administration pursues new Saudi arms deal despite investigation

The Donald Trump administration is doubling down with a new arms deal for Saudi Arabia despite an investigation into last year’s $8 billion emergency weapons sale to Riyadh, a key Senate Democrat revealed in a CNN op-ed Wednesday.
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) exits at the end of the day as the Trump impeachment trial continues in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC2ROE9DKPT1

The Donald Trump administration is doubling down with a new arms deal for Saudi Arabia despite an investigation into last year’s $8 billion emergency weapons sale to Riyadh, a key Senate Democrat revealed in a CNN op-ed today.

“Before we went into pandemic lockdown, I received draft State Department documentation that it is now pursuing this previously undisclosed sale — details of which have not yet been made public — even though the Saudis seemingly want out of their failed and brutal war in Yemen, and despite the fact that bipartisan majority in Congress rejected previous sales of these weapons,” wrote Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. “The administration has refused to answer our fundamental questions to justify this new sale and articulate how it would be consistent with US values and national security objectives.”

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.