(CNN) The Trump administration is considering yet another weapons sale to Saudi Arabia despite the fact that it is facing scrutiny from congressional Democrats who believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have recommended the firing of an independent watchdog because he was investigating the top US diplomat's controversial decision to fast-track a previous arms deal to the Kingdom. In a CNN op-ed Wednesday , the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, said he discovered that the administration is pursuing a previously undisclosed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which includes "thousands more precision-guided bombs to the President's 'friend,' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman." "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 a bipartisan majority in Congress rejected previous sales of these weapons," the New Jersey Democrat wrote. "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," he added. "This is not an isolated problem," Menendez said, pointing to the fact that the administration's pursuit of a new weapons sale to Riyadh comes on the heals of President Donald Trump's firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

Source: CNN May 27, 2020 22:47 UTC