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Thread: Rand Paul, Mike Lee rip administration over Iran briefing

  1. #1

    Rand Paul, Mike Lee rip administration over Iran briefing

    Good on 'em.

    GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) ripped the administration over a closed-door briefing on Iran on Wednesday, announcing they will now support a resolution reining in President Trump's military powers.

    Lee, speaking to reporters after a roughly hour-long closed-door meeting with administration officials, characterized it as "the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue.”

    Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley were dispatched to brief both the House and Senate on Wednesday amid days of concerns from lawmakers that Trump was on a path to war with Iran, which on Tuesday night launched missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.

    Lee said the officials warned that Congress would "embolden" Iran if lawmakers debated Trump's war powers.

    "I find this insulting and demeaning ... to the office that each of the 100 senators in this building happens to hold. I find it insulting and demeaning to the Constitution of the United States," Lee said.

    Lee did not say which briefer made the assertion, but specified that no administration representative contradicted them. He added that he was going to have a "conversation" with Trump about the remarks.

    "I find that absolutely insane. I think that's unacceptable," Lee added.

    Paul added that he found the briefing "less than satisfying," and knocked the administration for using the 2002 war authorization as the basis for last week's airstrike against an Iranian general.

    "I see no way in the world you could logically argue that an authorization to have war with Saddam Hussein has anything to with having war with people currently in Iraq," Paul told reporters.


    He added that using the 2002 authorization to justify the strike that killed Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad was "absurd" and an "insult."

    "Let's have the debate, and let's have some senators stand up," Paul said.

    The briefing comes as the House is set to vote on a resolution on Thursday that would force Trump to end hostilities against Iran unless he gets specific authorization from Congress.

    Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has introduced a similar resolution that is set for a vote on the Senate floor as soon as next week.

    Lee said that he had not seen the House resolution but was open to considering it.
    "After today, every time they pull a stunt like this I'm willing to consider and introduce any and every war powers act resolution," he said.

    Both GOP senators were undecided on Kaine's resolution before the briefing, but announced afterward that they are now supporting the measure. Democrats need four GOP votes to pass the resolution checking Trump's authority.


    "I can say that after that briefing — that briefing is what changed my mind. ... I'm now going to support it. I walked into the briefing undecided, I walked out of that briefing decided specifically because of what happened in that briefing," Lee added.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...D4BEgb7mC_Jhzk
    Last edited by phill4paul; 01-08-2020 at 04:40 PM.



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  3. #2
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  4. #3
    Wow!!!

    That is awesome..
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  5. #4
    And like clockwork, teocon Mark Levin is ripping Mike and Rand. Levin is a constitutionalist, in that he can twist the Constitution with the best of them to fit his agenda.
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  6. #5
    Sen. Mike Lee on Iran Briefing: "That was insulting."



    Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT): "It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government…to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran. It's un-American. It's unconstitutional and it's wrong."
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
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  7. #6
    Go Rand Paul and Mike Lee.
    "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration is minding my own business."

    Calvin Coolidge

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Globalist View Post
    Go Rand Paul and Mike Lee.
    They gotta push this while the democrats are stuck in 'vindictive' mode.

  9. #8
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    Nice work boys!



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  11. #9
    Graham told reporters on Wednesday that he thought Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) were "overreacting" by criticizing comments made during a closed-door Iran briefing.

    "They're libertarians," Graham said. "I think they're overreacting, quite frankly. Go debate all you want to. I'm going to debate you. Trust me, I'm going to let people know that at this moment in time to play this game with the war powers act ... whether you mean to or not, you're empowering the enemy."

  12. #10

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty View Post
    And like clockwork, teocon Mark Levin is ripping Mike and Rand. Levin is a constitutionalist, in that he can twist the Constitution with the best of them to fit his agenda.
    If history is any indicator Sword will soon be calling them Iranian terrorist lovers who should be voted out for not supporting Trump. ANd of course, the mods will allow it.

    On a side note, Mike Lee is running for re-election this year.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by angelatc View Post
    If history is any indicator Sword will soon be calling them Iranian terrorist lovers who should be voted out for not supporting Trump. ANd of course, the mods will allow it.

    On a side note, Mike Lee is running for re-election this year.
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  15. #13
    Those two would make a damn good republican ticket.
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This is getting silly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It started silly.
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  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by nobody's_hero View Post
    Those two would make a damn good republican ticket.
    People hate freedom so I dont think Rand/Lee would win. I think we need to give up on presidential politics. Imagine if we had 10 Rand Paul's and Mike Lee's in the Senate. We would actually see stuff done..

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post



    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to angelatc again.
    The wisdom of Swordy:

    On bringing the troops home
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    They are coming home, all the naysayers said they would never leave Syria and then they said they were going to stay in Iraq forever.

    It won't take very long to get them home but it won't be overnight either but Iraq says they can't stay and they are coming home just like Trump said.

    On fighting corruption:
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Trump had to donate the "right way" and hang out with the "right people" in order to do business in NYC and Hollyweird and in order to investigate and expose them.
    Fascism Defined

  18. #16
    Name:  mike-lee-rand-paul-rtr-jc-200108_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg
Views: 0
Size:  105.1 KB

    Defense Secretary Esper privately warned lawmakers against debating war powers

    On the eve of a House vote Thursday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged Congress not to debate limits to President Donald Trump’s power to strike Iran because doing so might embolden Tehran and hurt U.S. troops, multiple sources tell ABC News.

    The suggestion by Esper, in a classified briefing for lawmakers on Wednesday, enraged some members, including Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who swiftly marched to the television cameras following the 75-minute briefing to declare it “insulting.” Lee said Esper's comments felt like being told to be “good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public.”

    “I find that absolutely insane,” he said.

    Jonathan Hoffman, chief Pentagon spokesman, said Esper was responding to a “direct question” on the matter when he expressed concern “about unintentional messages to the force” if Congress attempted to repeal an existing authorization for military force in Iraq “at the same time that American troops are in harm’s way.”

    “In follow up questioning, the Secretary made it clear that he was not questioning the appropriateness of Congressional debate on military force, but rather he stated a concern about how such a debate would be interpreted by the force,” Hoffman said in a statement provided to ABC News.

    That Esper – a Cabinet member and former senior staffer on Capitol Hill – suggested lawmakers would be wise to stand down on the matter of providing a constitutional check to the executive branch is likely to become a flash point in Congress and unify Democrats with libertarian-leaning conservatives like Sens. Lee and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/defe...ry?id=68164993



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  20. #17
    They're wheeling out Pence now. The administration is worred...

    Vice President Pence defended the Trump administration’s withholding of intelligence it says justified the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani after Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called a White House briefing on the matter “insulting.”

    In an appearance on NBC's “Today,” the vice president was asked why the administration could not share the intelligence with senators.

    Pence defended the administration withholding the evidence as necessary to protect sources and methods, saying “some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American forces and American personnel also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have.”
    https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...-lee-criticism

    He's lying again.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by angelatc View Post
    If history is any indicator Sword will soon be calling them Iranian terrorist lovers who should be voted out for not supporting Trump. ANd of course, the mods will allow it.

    I'm eager to read his posts about why congress should not limit the president's war powers.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
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    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
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    Enforced internal open borders was one of the worst elements of the Constitution.

  22. #19

  23. #20
    Ann Coulter tweeted the article in OP



    https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/statu...64131587407872

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post
    Ann Coulter tweeted the article in OP
    She's only about 19 years late for the party.

  25. #22

  26. #23
    Trump comments on Lee:

    President Donald Trump on Thursday defended senior administration officials from forceful criticism by Sen. Mike Lee, after the Utah Republican called their classified briefing on the killing of a top Iranian military commander “the worst” he had participated in during his tenure on Capitol Hill.

    “I get along great with Mike Lee. I've never seen him like that,” Trump told reporters at a White House event, referring to Lee’s fiery remarks Wednesday following the congressional briefing, which included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and CIA Director Gina Haspel.


    “I had calls from numerous senators and numerous congressmen and women saying it was the greatest presentation they've ever had,” the president claimed.

    Sprinting across several morning television news programs to address Washington’s heightened tensions with Tehran, Vice President Mike Pence also pushed back against Lee’s complaints.

    While Pence said he had “great respect” for Lee and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who joined with his GOP colleague in blasting the briefing, he told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that “the truth is both of them have voted against the military action that’s been taken by this administration in self-defense in Yemen and in the region, and we respectfully disagree with them."

    The briefing Wednesday focused primarily on Trump’s order last week to eliminate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite paramilitary Quds Force, in an overnight U.S. drone strike near Baghdad’s international airport. That assault prompted a missile salvo from the Iranian military against two Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops.

    Although senior administration officials have claimed Soleimani’s removal from the battlefield prevented an imminent threat that could have endangered as many as hundreds of American lives in the region, congressional Democrats have evinced skepticism regarding the intelligence behind the strike.

    Lee appeared to echo those concerns, branding Wednesday’s session “the worst briefing I’ve seen — at least on a military issue — in my nine years” in the Senate.

    He fumed that the administration officials in attendance warned against even debating legislation to restrict Trump’s authority to attack Iran, knocking such proposals as “un-American” and “unconstitutional.”

    “They had to leave after 75 minutes while they’re in the process of telling us that we need to be good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public,” Lee said. “I find that absolutely insane.”

    In an interview with NPR on Thursday, Lee sought to clarify that his anger “was not about the Soleimani killing” but was “instead about the possibility of future military action against Iran.”

    “I want to be clear: With respect to the strike against Soleimani, that was arguably lawful. I still have questions that remain unanswered on that point. I'm going to set that aside a moment, and I'm going to assume for purposes of this discussion that that may well have been lawful,” Lee said.


    “What I'm most concerned about is about where that goes from here," he continued. “What comes next? Is there another strike coming against Iran? If so, at what point do they need to come to us seeking an authorization for the use of military force? The fact that they were unable or unwilling to identify any point at which that would be necessary yesterday was deeply distressing to me.”


    The briefing has prompted both Lee and Paul to throw their support behind a resolution offered by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) aimed at forcing the president to halt military action against Iran if not authorized by Congress except in a case of an imminent threat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also announced Wednesday that the chamber would vote Thursday to limit Trump’s war-making powers.

    “Mike and Rand Paul disagreed because they want information that, honestly, I think is very hard to get. It’s okay if the military wants to give it, but they didn't want to give it,” Trump said. “And it really had to do with sources and information that we had that really should remain at a very high level. Could we individually maybe give one or two of them some information? Possibly, if we can do that.”

    On “Fox & Friends,” Pence praised Lee as a “great conservative and a great leader” and said the administration had “honest differences of opinion” with the senators regarding U.S. policy in the Middle East.

    “But let me assure your viewers, I was there every step of the way,” Pence added. “And while to protect sources and methods, we’re simply not able to share with every member of the House and Senate the intelligence that supported the president’s decision to take out Qassem Soleimani. I can assure your viewers that there was a threat of an imminent attack.”

    Pence was also pressed Wednesday by NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie on “Today” as to why the administration briefers could not, in a secure Capitol Hill setting, share with lawmakers the nature of the threat Soleimani posed.

    “Well some of that has to do with what's called sources and methods, Savannah,” he responded. “That if we were to share all of the intelligence — and, in fact, some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American forces and American personnel also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have — it could compromise those sources and methods.”
    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...riefing-096652

  27. #24
    Trump should probably go out of his way to make Rand and Mike happy. Because, he's like, facing an impeachment trial soon.
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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post
    Trumps remarks are kinda out of character. Trump usually hits back hard at critics. Given that, it seems he must have an high opinion of Rand and Lee. Which is a good thing.

  30. #26
    Rand Paul believes Trump is working with allies on a new deal for Iran unfortunately i dont see that happening. If the new Iranian deal forces or questions Iran on Iranian activity in the middle east you will see Iran quickly reject the deal.

    Its clear whoever is pushing the foreign policy of America wants no competition from anyone in the middle east. Whenever Mike Pompy say Iran should return to be a normal nation they mean that by becoming a useful puppet and a nation that lets America do whatever it wants in the middle east. Thats what the NeoCons want.

  31. #27

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post

    https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1215369529112571905
    Paul fires back at Graham over Iran criticism: 'He insults the Constitution'

    "I love my country as much as the next guy, but for him to insult and say that somehow we're not as patriotic as he is — he hasn't even read the history of the Constitution," Paul said.

    "He insults the Constitution, our Founding Fathers and what we do stand for in this republic by making light of it and accusing people of lacking patriotism. I think that's a low, gutter type of response," Paul added.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...k2NY-R3PgnSKuA

  33. #29
    Graham actually believes the president can go to war whenever he wants. crazy guy.

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post
    They're wheeling out Pence now. The administration is worred...

    https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...-lee-criticism

    He's lying again.
    Breaking News: VP Pence says that that Mike Lee was behind 9/11.
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.

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