The State Department has ousted a senior official who was involved in a plan that gave his former employer—defense contractor Raytheon—billions of dollars in weapons sales, The Wall Street Journal reports. Charles Faulkner, who was a deputy assistant secretary at State, reportedly resigned in early May after working on an emergency declaration that “fast-tracked $8 billion in arms sales” to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Faulkner used to be an “outside lobbyist” for Raytheon. The emergency declaration used reportedly cited rising tensions between U.S. and Iran to bypass congressional oversight. Democrats are now reportedly looking into whether Faulkner violated Trump’s ethics rules by partaking in the discussions on the declaration, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee will scrutinize Faulkner’s actions at a hearing scheduled for next week. Faulkner reportedly declined to comment.
