President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani was planning attacks against four U.S. embassies "seems to be totally made up," Rep. Justin Amash tweeted on Sunday.
"The administration didn’t present evidence to Congress regarding even one embassy," wrote Amash, who is an independent from Michigan who left the Republican Party this past July and voted for impeaching Trump.
He stressed in the tweet that the administration has also “never presented evidence of imminence - a necessary condition to act without congressional approval” regarding justification for Soleimani.
Amash's comments were in response to Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" that he had not seen any "specific evidence" that backed the president’s assertion that Tehran was planning attacks on four embassies but that Trump's stance was "there probably and could've been attacks against additional embassies."
Amash sent out another tweet a few days ago after Trump’s comments that when the president “lies or embellishes on a topic this sensitive, and administration officials then parrot his claims to avoid drawing his ire, the situation becomes extremely dangerous for our troops and the American people.”
Others from both parties have cited the lack of evidence given for the justification of the strike in their criticism of Trump, according to The Hill.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine both said that an intelligence briefing they received after the killing of Suleimani did not mention alleged threats on four U.S. embassies.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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