“El-Sisi has built a military dictatorship in which civilian institutions have been subordinated to the military and intelligence agencies in which freedom of speech and expression has been completely stifled.”

“It’s a curious way to describe Egypt to call it stable. Since Sisi took office, living standards have declined, the country’s crumbling, the insurgency problem in the Sinai has only gotten worse.”

“My sense is that under the Trump administration the U.S. government has consistently raised Kassem’s case but that the administration is unwilling to threaten the overall bilateral relationship if Kassem is not released.”

“Even many Democrats who were reluctant to criticize Egypt under Obama would have no qualms about doing that now; they don’t risk the relationship. It’s not consistent, but it’s the reality of life in Washington.”

“The national security waiver suggests it is critical to US interests that Egypt receives the money. It wasn’t moved for 10 or 11 months. That suggests a manipulation or a derangement of the authority.”

“The message that Egypt takes away is that they don’t have to take these issues seriously… ultimately the U.S. will do whatever it takes to get Egypt the money because it sees Egypt as central to its security interests.”

“[Sisi] doesn’t trust the private sector. He doesn’t trust businessmen.”

“The [Department of Defense’s] perspective was that the priority placed on human rights made the problem more difficult. With or without that scratchiness, the Egyptians were a difficult partner.”

“Egypt may be working with the North Koreans on the contravention of sanctions that apply to North Korea. The thinking is almost certainly that if you’re going to do the waiver…[lawmakers] are going to ask the State Department to argue why.”

“Their attempted candidacies said to the Egyptian public that Sisi is doing a bad job and Egypt needs new leadership. That’s very provocative.”