Democrats said Trump administration officials failed to provide a justification for the killing of Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, which many of them believe was unjustified and some have labeled an assassination.
Republican lawmakers who left the briefing said information provided there showed the United States had no choice but to take out Soleimani.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other administration officials briefed senators and House lawmakers Wednesday in separate, classified briefings to explain why the U.S. launched a drone strike Thursday that killed Soleimani and several other officials.
“They’ve done an excellent job of outlining the rationale for going after Soleimani,” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said.
Democrats were infuriated at what they described as a lack of information showing why the U.S. needed to kill Soleimani, an action that has prompted Iran to retaliate with ballistic missile attacks on Iraqi bases that house U.S. military.
“There were so many important questions they did not answer,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. “We did not see a satisfying plan for the future. We had 97 Senators there, 15 asked questions. As the questions began to get tough, they walked out.”
Senate Democrats complained the 75-minute briefing was far too short and never provided justification for the killing.
“We did not get information in that briefing that there was a specific imminent threat that we were halting by the operation last Thursday.” Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said.
Most Republicans in the briefing said they heard plenty of evidence.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, said the briefing provided “absolutely crystal clear information” on the rationale for taking out Soleimani, who has a long history of targeting and killing Americans in the region.
“It would have been negligent. It would have been reckless. It would have been intentional disregard for the president not to act and not to take out Soleimani,” Risch said.
Two Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, both longtime opponents of military intervention overseas, criticized the briefing.
Lee called the briefing “demeaning” and condemned Trump administration officials for urging Congress not to take up a war powers resolution to curb the president’s authorization for the use of military force.
“We were told, ‘We shouldn’t debate this too much because it might be harmful,’” Lee said. “After today, every time they pull a stunt like this, I’m ready to introduce any and all war powers resolutions.”
House lawmakers who received a similar classified briefing earlier in the day were divided along party lines.
“What I heard was a very unpersuasive and short discussion on why to act now and imminent threats,” Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, said.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, called the briefing “sophomoric and unpersuasive.”
Republicans, like most of the GOP Senate colleagues, said the briefing convinced them that Soleimani was preparing to escalate attacks against Americans.
“I can tell you with assurance this was not the same thing we’ve been seeing for the past few years,” Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican who sits on the Intelligence Committee, said. “This was something different.”
