Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, was in the hot seat. In early March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, oil prices collapsed and a price war broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia, leaving American oil and gas companies feeling the pain. As oil prices plummeted, Republican senators from oil-producing states turned their ire directly on Saudi Arabia. Forget that civil war in Yemen — what about fossil-fuel profits here at home?

To address their concerns, Ambassador Bandar Al-Saud agreed to speak with a group of them in a March 18 conference call — and found herself instantly on the firing line, as senator after senator berated her for the kingdom’s role in slashing global oil prices. “Texas is mad,” Senator Ted Cruz bluntly stated. As the ambassador tried to respond, Alaska senator Dan Sullivan retorted, “With all due respect, I don’t want to hear any talking points from you until you hear from all [of us]. I think there’s eleven or twelve on the call.”

The Saudi lobby in Washington was similarly flailing in its reaction to the anger on Capitol Hill. Hogan Lovells, one of the kingdom’s top lobbying firms in the nation’s capital, was spearheading the response, emailing staffers in the offices of more than thirty members of Congress. Its message couldn’t have been clearer: “Saudi Arabia has not, and will not, seek to intentionally damage U.S. shale oil producers.”