Several Democratic senators say the administration did not discuss an alleged threat that Iran was planning to “blow up” a U.S. Embassy during a closed-door briefing this week.
President Trump, during a press conference on Thursday, said that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed last week by a U.S. airstrike, was “looking to blow up our embassy.”
Democrats, however, appeared caught off guard by Trump’s allegation, noting it did not come up during a briefing with top administration officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
Told about Trump’s remarks, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters “that’s news to me.”
“That’s news to me based on sitting through that hearing. … I sat through that hearing, I listened very carefully, I would have definitely known if anybody said that,” he said.
Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.), during an interview with CNN, said administration officials did not provide evidence of a plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
“It’s striking that that additional specific detail is now being offered up by President Trump. … For that to be released today in a public setting, and not to have been shared with, at least in the setting that I was in yesterday for an hour and a half, with virtually all of the Senate is pretty striking,” he added.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told MSNBC, “No, we did not hear about blowing up the embassy … in that briefing, and I sat through it from beginning to end.”
Trump has repeatedly doubled down on his claim Soleimani was plotting attacks against U.S. embassies.
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Dem senators say Iran threat to embassies not mentioned by Trump admin in intelligence briefing https://t.co/QBtbJsocHJ pic.twitter.com/Tsmj6fnvEC
— The Hill (@thehill) January 10, 2020
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