Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy recently said that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth denied him access to the Pentagon’s major military base in the Persian Gulf. Murphy was visiting Doha, Qatar, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of a congressional delegation.
Chris Murphy says the Pentagon denied him access to Al Udeid Air Base and refused to provide an Iran war briefing
US Senator Chris Murphy recently spoke with reporters during his visit to Riyadh. There, he said Pete Hegseth denied him entry to the Pentagon’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
He further accused the Donald Trump administration of attempting to hide the impact of the Iran-US war on the base. Murphy posted a video on his X account in which he said, “Something unprecedented happened during my trip to the Middle East, and that is this: I have been denied total access to US military facilities in the region, in particular in Qatar, the Al Udeid Air Base, which is one of our biggest and most important facilities in the region.”
He described the restriction as a “coordinated, deliberate campaign” by Hegseth to hide the damage at the military base during the Iran war.
Murphy claimed Hegseth was under directions not to let the Democrat interact with the base leadership or have a briefing with the generals present. He added that this move by the Secretary of War should be “unacceptable.”
However, in response to Murphy’s accusations, a Pentagon official released a statement to the Hill. The official said they had told the Senator’s office that he would not get permission to enter the base. They stated that it was because of travel restrictions Hegseth imposed in the area. They stated, “That decision was communicated in advance by the Office of the Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs. The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”