“This official report directly contradicts the president’s false assertion that he attacked Iran to prevent an imminent attack against United States personnel and embassies,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.). “The administration’s explanation in this report makes no mention of any imminent threat and shows that the justification the president offered to the American people was false, plain and simple.”

A spokesman for the National Security Council said the White House had no further comment beyond the memo.