On 5 July 1977, the PPP accused the United States of plotting the coup and maintained that the coup had tacit consent from the United States. A few before the martial law, Bhutto had indicated that few foreign powers had been engineering his downfall, though he did not name which foreign powers. Several Pakistani scholars and researchers have given credence to Bhutto's claim. The veracity of these claims are difficult to verify since the United States has strongly rejected any claims of their involvement in downfall of Bhutto. Though, former American Attorney General Ramsey Clark did questioned the "knowledge, hence the tacit approval" of the coup staged against the PPP.