Qatar to explore legal avenues after Fox News allegations of spying on US lawmakers

Qatar announced that it is “exploring legal avenues” after Fox News claimed Doha spied on American lawmakers opposed to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Qatari embassy in the US said in a statement yesterday that “all legal avenues are being explored against the reporter in question, who has previously been identified by other international media outlets as part of a coordinated anti-Qatar campaign spanning many years.”

The Qatari embassy’s comment came after Fox News claimed that Qatar hired a former CIA agent to discredit Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and other lawmakers who oppose Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The network claimed to have obtained documents revealing the alleged espionage campaign funded by Qatar since March 2017, to undermine legislation and policies against Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The network quoted Cruz as accusing the Qatari government of spending billions of dollars on promoting and financing the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other “terrorist groups” before calling on the White House administration to reevaluate its relationship with Doha.

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UPDATE: On 22 January 2024 at 13.50 (GMT) this article previously stated that Qatar had ‘sued’ Fox News, however the Gulf State is looking into the legal avenues available at this time.