“This money is tainted. . . . This is an Egyptian government that is meddling in U.S. politics and foreign policy in an illegal way. . . . [For military aid to Egypt in Fiscal Year 2024, Congress] could consider topline reductions, removing the national security waiver on the portion that’s conditioned on human rights or increasing the portion that’s conditioned on human rights.”

“It’s clear that [the Government of Egypt’s] involvement and effort in trying to push to get military aid cleared and released is an indication that this is absolutely something they care strongly about, and they’re willing to do whatever they can to get the assistance that they think belongs to them.”

“You have a powerful senator in a privileged position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, potentially weighing in on one of the primary tools for advancing U.S. interests in Egypt, which is military aid.”

“We often hear that using military aid as leverage won’t work, as the Egyptian government doesn’t really care about the assistance. This indictment should put that argument to bed, it has clearly been proven false.”

He called on Congress to block pending U.S. aid “in order to make crystal clear that al-Sisi’s human rights record and infiltrating the U.S. political system will not be tolerated.”

“The regime has definitely entered a renewed and heightened phase of its repression as the presidential election approaches and the economy continues to falter.”

“[The $85 million withheld in military aid to Egypt] is an important reversal from last year. . . . But if the administration withholds less than it has the last two years it would in essence be saying to al-Sisi that it believe the Egyptian government has improved its rights record, which is just not true.”

“The human rights crisis in Egypt is a leading driver of the country’s instability and should therefore be a U.S. national security priority.”

“The speed of [Zaki’s] release shows the effectiveness of this kind of continued, targeted, coordinated pressure on the Egyptian government on human rights by partner governments and civil society organizations. . . . I think it’s an important reminder that this kind of tenacious advocacy can yield results and impact the ongoing repression in the country.”

“Patrick [Zaki]’s case is emblematic of a slew of gross rights abuses that continue to be perpetuated by the Egyptian regime on a really broad scale.”