Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said Trump administration officials did not mention in classified briefings that four American embassies were under threat of attack before the U.S. military killed Iran’s top general.
Lee appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday to discuss the problems he had with a classified briefing that administration officials gave to congressional lawmakers over U.S. tensions with Iran. Lee walked out of the briefing on Wednesday and slammed it as “probably the worst briefing I’ve seen, at least on a military issue.”
President Trump said on Friday in an interview on Fox News that Iran was targeting four U.S. embassies before the strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Trump ordered a drone strike on Soleimani on Jan. 2 after the Iranian military leader orchestrated a violent protest outside of the American Embassy in Baghdad.
Lee said that lawmakers were not told about any potential attacks on American embassies, as Trump suggested.
“I don’t recall being told that there were four embassies. I’m sure there was a mention of at least one embassy in that briefing because there had been an attack on one of our embassies in the days leading up to general Soleimani’s killing,” the Utah Republican said.
The senator’s comment came around the same time that Secretary of Defense Mark Esper admitted during an interview with ABC’s This Week that he “didn’t see” specific evidence of Trump’s claim about plots against four embassies.
