State Department Not Protecting U.S. Ambassador Who Revealed Russia Arms Shipments: Senator

The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has accused the State Department of not having the back of the American diplomat who revealed that South Africa had provided arms to Russia’s military late last year.

Yesterday, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, said South Africa’s government had delivered ammunition to a Russian ship under U.S. sanctions docked at a naval base in the country last December. That allegation immediately set off a shock wave across the South African political scene. While the country’s presidency claimed that there was no evidence to support Brigety’s statement, it also appointed an independent investigator to probe the matter. The foreign ministry later denied that any such transfer took place.

Senator Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, weighed in on Twitter today. He slammed South Africa’s “anti-American screeds” and “maltreatment” of Brigety, who “spoke honestly about an issue of grave concern to U.S. national security.”

“It’s also unfortunate that @StateDepartment didn’t back him up,” Risch added.

What he referred to seems to be a sequence of events in which Brigety has been raked over the coals by South Africa’s government.

Earlier today, South Africa claimed that Brigety walked back his original claim — about which he told news outlets the U.S. was “confident” yesterday. South Africa’s head of public diplomacy, Clayson Monyela, tweeted about a meeting today between the American envoy and foreign minister Naledi Pandor, where he says Brigety acknowledged that “he crossed the line and apologized unreservedly.”

Later, Brigety tweeted his own walkback of sorts, saying that he was grateful for the chance to “correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks.”

Monyela characterized that statement by Brigety as “confirmation of the apology” that he posted about earlier. It’s not clear that Brigety has in fact apologized and fully walked back the allegation, though.

On Friday afternoon, the State Department seemed to be missing in action, and a request for comment about Monyela’s claim that Brigety apologized went unanswered. The department said in a statement, though, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a call with Pandor, during which he “underscored the importance of the U.S.–South Africa strategic partnership and reiterated cooperation on shared priorities, including health, trade, and energy.”