The U.S. State Department’s top official overseeing arms sales has pushed back against claims that he misled Congress concerning emergency multibillion-dollar weapons transactions to Middle Eastern countries, after two Democratic lawmakers accused him of lying while testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last year.
In letters sent to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Rep. Andy Levin, both Democrats, and obtained by Foreign Policy, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper insisted that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was justified in invoking an emergency declaration to expedite arms sales to the region based on months of increasing threats from Iran. Cooper refuted claims he attempted to mislead lawmakers on the subject.
