Sen. Mike Lee said Sunday he had seen no evidence of an imminent attack on four U.S. embassies, which President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed as justification for the strike that killed one of Iran’s top military leaders.
“I didn’t hear anything about that. Several of my colleagues have said the same. So that was news to me, and it is certainly not something that I recall being raised in the classified briefing,” said Lee on CNN’s State of the Union.
President Trump said during an interview on Friday that Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani was planning attacks on four U.S. embassies. Secretary Pompeo said he told members of Congress about the planned embassy attacks when he was part of a classified briefing last week. Lee contradicted Pompeo’s claim.
“I don’t recall being told that there were four embassies, and I am sure there was a mention of at least one embassy in that briefing because there had been attack on the embassy in the days leading up to General Soleimani’s killing,” said Lee.
Lee made news last week when he ripped the Trump administration following a classified briefing that he called “the worst” he had ever taken part in during his time in Congress.
“I have not been able to yet ascertain the specific details of the imminence of the attack. Again, we were not provided that the other day, and we were given somewhat general statements, and I believe that the briefers and the president believe they had a basis for believing that there was an imminent attack, and I don’t doubt it, but it is frustrating to be told that and not get the details behind it,” he said.
Lee says he was supporting a resolution requiring the Trump administration to get authorization from Congress before taking any further military action against Iran.
Watch the clip below via CNN:
