Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall allegedly mirrored talking points provided to him by Qatar in his appraisal of the Qatari regime during a March 27 Congressional hearing.
As first reported by the Washington Examiner, records from the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) indicate that the arguments Marshall made on multiple occasions regarding the importance of Qatar’s pivotal role in achieving the release of American hostages mirrored the talking points given to his office by agents of the Qatari regime on October 7, 2023, where the agents noted “Qatar’s role in the release of Gaza hostages.” (RELATED: ‘Not Welcome Here’: Qatar Reportedly Expels Hamas Following Terrorist Group’s Latest Rejection Of Ceasefire Deal)
Marshall pressured the Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, Dr. Charles Asher Small, during the hearing to admit that Qatar played a pivotal role in freeing hostages, disregarding Small’s allegations that Qatar aids terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
Really bizarre pro-Qatar rant from GOP Sen. Roger Marshall just now.
He calls it “discrimination” to point out Qatari funding of colleges and accuses people of making Qatar the “scapegoat.” pic.twitter.com/m9jYWy07pT
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) March 27, 2025
Marshall asked Dr. Small, “What was Qatar’s role in the hostage release of Americans?”
“I’ll answer the question for you: so, the Qataris were vastly responsible for the freeing of American hostages and many others,” Marshall told Small.
After the first release of American hostages from the grip of Hamas under President Donald Trump’s administration, the same Qatari agent who provided Marshall’s office with the pro-Qatar talking points sent another message to remind the office of the crucial work Qatar had achieved with the Trump administration on “the latest ceasefire and hostage release.”
“As you may know, Qatar worked closely with President Trump and his team on the latest ceasefire and hostage release. They will continue to work with the Administration to push Hamas to adhere to the truce. Just this morning, another 8 hostages were freed,” the foreign agent wrote.
Dr. Small agreed that the senator posed a good question during the hearing, before proceeding to accuse Qatar of funding Hamas, in addition to having “good relations” with terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, the Iranian Revolutionary Regime, and Hamas.
Marshall overlooked the allegation of Qatar funding a terrorist regime and justified it with the importance of Qatar’s role in freeing civilians from the wrath of various terrorist organizations.
“It’s interesting, just the prejudice that I hear coming out of your mouth here,” Marshall told Small.
“Qatar was so important. Of the 120,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan in our moment of need, Qatar stood beside us. And of the 120,000 removed, 60,000 of them came through Qatar,” Marshall said. (RELATED: US Government Left As Many As 9,000 American Citizens In Afghanistan After Withdrawal, Senate Report Reveals)
The talking points given to the senator’s office by the Embassy of Qatar stated that the “State of Qatar evacuated more than 75,000 Afghan refugees, including students, teachers, activists, lawyers, medical professionals, artists and others. After the US evacuation, Qatar flights to Doha were just about the only the avenue available for refugees to leave Afghanistan.”
“Without Qatar, we would’ve had thousands more deaths as well. So I really, I don’t know why you won’t answer that question,” Marshall stated.
Marshall stated that Qatar is a “great ally to America” and has even “given about $5 billion to the educational institutions of America.” Marshall then questioned Dr. Small for attacking the Qatari regime.
“A vast majority of that, probably 80% [of the money] is setting up universities in Qatar. Whether it’s Texas A&M in engineering or Cornell in medicine. A vast amount of money is research-oriented as well. Qatar has been a great ally to America, so I don’t know why you’re attacking them,” the Senator shouted.
TOPSHOT – Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani attends a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-US Strategic Partnership discussing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)
Cornell has recently been under fire for allegedly engendering a strong anti-Semitic environment and for facilitating pro-Hamas rhetoric. After Hamas carried out a mass slaughter and kidnapping of Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, a professor at Cornell publicly praised the attacks as “exhilarating” and “energizing.” That professor still teaches at the university.
Documents obtained by Campus Reform in 2024 revealed that Texas A&M gave “broad control” over to Qatar for its Middle Eastern research operations.
Senator Marshall’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller’s multiple email inquiries and phone calls.