The congressional memo raises questions about whether President Trump is putting business interests ahead of U. S. national security.
Democrats are investigating the Trump administration’s plans to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, according to a congressional memo released Tuesday.
A 24-page report from the House Oversight Committee noted that there are serious misgivings about the Trump administration’s plans to build nuclear power plants across Saudi Arabia, a move some say could put U. S. national security at risk. What’s more, the U. S. government is prohibited from transferring nuclear technology to a foreign country that could be used to make a nuclear weapon, unless it has approval from Congress. The Oversight Committee report says it is possible the Trump administration was looking to flout those laws. Whistleblowers who reached out to Congress raised concerns about potential legal and procedural violations.
Lawmakers are now asking whether President Donald Trump is putting the financial interests of his allies ahead of U. S. national security.
“The Trump Administration’s interactions with Saudi Arabia have been shrouded in secrecy, raising significant questions about the nature of the relationship,” the memo, drafted by House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings’s team, reads.
“Within the United States, strong private commercial interests have been pressing aggressively for the transfer of highly sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia—a potential risk to U. S. national security absent adequate safeguards,» the memo continued. «These commercial entities stand to reap billions of dollars through contracts associated with constructing and operating nuclear facilities in Saudi Arabia—and apparently have been in close and repeated contact with President Trump and his Administration to the present day.”
President Donald Trump holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20,2018 in Washington, D. C. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The investigation into the Trump administration’s plans for the Gulf Kingdom is being launched shortly after Russia and Saudi Arabia signed a nuclear cooperation agreement, and as much of the international community questions its relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
