Senior lawmakers in both parties said Monday that the Trump administration’s decision to launch bombing and missile strikes across Iran this weekend was largely dictated by Israel’s plan to attack Iran with or without U.S. support.
Archiv: Mark Warner
Terrifying Conclusion of Secret Senate War Briefing Revealed
Warner told reporters those officials had explained how, prior to those strikes, Israel had warned it was facing an imminent threat from Tehran. Israel’s plans to attack first, the officials apparently went on, had effectively forced the U.S. into a pre-emptive assault on Iranian targets, on the basis of protecting American military assets across the region from prospective retaliatory strikes by the Islamic regime.
Iran strikes were launched without approval from Congress, deeply dividing lawmakers
The strikes, which began early Saturday, were launched without congressional authorization. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. Top Congressional Democrats and Republicans that make up a group known as the Gang of Eight — party leaders from both chambers, as well as the Intelligence committees‘ leadership — were notified by the White House shortly before the attack.
Sen. Warner says „Gang of Eight“ wasn‘t shown Sept. 2 boat strikes video in Hegseth-Rubio briefing
(8 hours ago)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Tuesday about the Sept. 2 strikes on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. CBS News congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has the details.
Administration officials defend Trump claims, Soleimani intelligence as senators push back on briefing
Esper also said the so-called Gang of Eight, the top members of Congress’s intelligence committees, did not believe further intelligence on Iran should be shared with Congress.
Esper told CBS’s Margaret Brennan he spoke to one of the officials who briefed the Gang of Eight and that “his assessment was most if not all the members thought the intelligence was persuasive and that the Gang of Eight did not think it should be released to the broader members of Congress.”