Members of Congress were briefed today on Iran, and Senator Mike Lee (R- UT) wanted to make it clear to reporters afterwards that he was pissed off.
Lee erupted on what he called an “insulting and demeaning” briefing that he deemed “probably the worst briefing at least on a military issue I’ve seen.”
He said the briefing was the deciding factor in him coming around to support the War Powers Act resolution being pushed by Democratic colleague Tim Kaine.
Lee, flanked by Rand Paul, said, “We were told over and over again it was this action was necessary, this was a bad guy, we had to do it,’ and we can’t have division, we can’t have dissension within our ranks, within our government, or it sends the wrong signal to the Iranians. And I just think that’s completely wrong.”
Lee said the briefers were asked what would trigger the need for the White House to seek authorization for the use of military force from Congress. “At one point, I believe one of the briefers said something along the lines of, ‘I’m sure we could think of something.’ But they struggled to identify anything.”