In an exchange with journalists at the Capitol on Wednesday, Republican Senator Mike Lee for Utah harshly criticized the Government of President Donald Trump for how he has handled the conflict with Iran, particularly how he has handled information about it.
Both Lee and his colleague Kentucky Senator Rand Paul criticized the classified national security briefing that the government organized with senators and representatives of the lower house. Lee called it "probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years I've served in the United States Senate."
Lee also said that the message they received from government officials was that lawmakers should be "good boys and girls and not discuss this in public," an instruction he described as "insane."
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, President of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley , CIA Director Gina Haspel and Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire told a dozen legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, who were going to consult them in the future about possible aggressive actions against Iran.
Iran's most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani, was killed by the United States in a drone attack last week. This Middle Eastern country swore revenge and has bombed US military bases in Iraq in days gone by.
But that government promise to consult legislators in the future was not enough for Senator Lee.
"With history as our guide, consulting is not necessarily the same as asking for authorization of the use of military force. (...) A notification of passing, or after the fact, or reports as lazy as the one we just received they are adequate, "said Lee.
US sends troops to Iraq and Kuwait against possible war against Iran
Why does it matter that Lee and Paul are criticizing the president?
Recall that while the conflict with Iran is unleashed, the political trial against the president, the fourth in the country's history, is still ongoing. The House of Representatives voted in December last year to charge Trump two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, for retaining financial and military aid to Ukraine in exchange for this country investigating its political rival, former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden.
Now that the lower house approved the charges, the next step in the impeachment process is for the Senate to carry out the trial, in which the lower house acts as the prosecutor, the White House lawyers act as the defense, the President of the Supreme Court, John Roberts , acts as the judge, and the Senate acts as the jury.
To dismiss a president, it is necessary that a simple majority, that is, half plus one, vote to condemn him.
In the Senate there are currently 47 Democrats and 53 Republicans. To remove Trump would require, in addition to the 47 Democratic votes, four other Republican votes.
These could be (but not guaranteed at all): Mitt Romney for Utah, Lisa Murkowski for Alaska and Susan Collins for Maine, since in the past they have not voted together with their party, or have expressed feeling "disturbed" due to the fact that the president of the Senate, Mitch McConnell , has said that he will "coordinate" with the White House during the trial, that is, that the jury and the defense will be coordinated, which does not project a trial at all impartial.
But then a fourth Republican senator would be missing. Who could it be? That's where Lee and Paul's recent reproaches become critical.
What follows in the process of political trial of Trump?
Limit the president's powers of war
Lee's statements were transmitted, among others, by the conservative Fox News network , the channel that the president watches religiously and that he uses to guide his foreign policy, so it is quite likely that Trump himself has heard these criticisms.
Beside him was Senator Rand Paul, who then spoke in an interview with Wolf Blitzer of CNN. Paul said the briefing was "an insult to the Constitution."
"In the briefing and in public, this administration has argued that the vote to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2002 applies to military (recent) action in Iraq. That is absurd," Paul told Blitzer. "No one in their right mind, with a serious face, with a hint of honesty, can say that when Congress voted to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2002 that (they) authorized military force against an Iranian general 18 years later" .
Administration officials said the attack was justified by Article II of the Constitution and the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF for its acronym in English. That resolution authorized the Iraq War, and officials said the attack was justified because it took place in Iraq, but said AUMF would not cover any military action in Iran.
"We were not given specific information about a specific attack," Paul added. "General: things you read in the newspaper. I did not hear anything in the audience that I had not seen in a newspaper."
Lee also told the cameras that he was "somewhat dissatisfied" at the level of information shared regarding the legal justification behind the attack on Soleimani.
In fact, he left them so dissatisfied that now both are determined to support a resolution of war powers presented by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, aimed at limiting Trump's powers to declare and carry out a war with Iran.
"It is not acceptable for executive branch officials ... to come and tell us that we cannot debate and discuss military intervention against Iran," said Lee.
"It's not American, it's unconstitutional and it's wrong."
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham , Trump's faithful ally, criticized Lee and Paul and said they were "empowering the enemy" with their reproaches.
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A tense briefing
Lee and Paul are not the only ones with complaints. Four senators who were in the briefing told CNN this became tense and heated: the senators asked repeated questions about the intelligence that led to the attack on Solemaini, about how imminent a future attack would be from Iran, and legal justification To attack this country.
Representatives of the administration left before senators and representatives finished their questions, according to CNN.
Esper downplayed the legislators who criticized the briefing and said: "Most members of Congress do not have access to intelligence that I think is the most convincing."
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