CIA Director Gina Haspel met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, a day after the Justice Department charged two former Twitter employees with spying on behalf of the kingdom.
The two discussed “a number of topics of mutual interest,” according to state news agency SPA. The Saudi Embassy said the discussion included “the longstanding Saudi-U.S. partnership,” and the two reviewed “a number of regional and international developments.”
#Riyadh: King Salman received Gina Haspel, Director of the U.S Central Intelligence Agency, to discuss the longstanding Saudi-US partnership, and review a number of regional and international developments. pic.twitter.com/WRXuIpW4RX
— Saudi Embassy (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) November 7, 2019
The Justice Department unveiled charges Wednesday against two former Twitter employees, alleging they exploited their access to confidential information on users and gave that information to Saudi officials. Some of the accounts they are accused of accessing belonged to prominent critics of the kingdom.
It was the first time the Justice Department has publicly accused the Saudis of spying inside the United States. One of the former employees, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Seattle on Tuesday. The other is suspected to be in Saudi Arabia.
The CIA declined to comment.
