Mike Pence insists Trump had ‘compelling evidence’ of imminent threat but that he can't make it public
Mike Pence has insisted the Trump administration had compelling evidence of an “imminent threat” posed by the Iranian general who was killed in an airstrike last week but that he cannot share the information.
In a series of interviews, the vice president has defended the administration’s failure to explain its rationale for the killing of Qassem Soleimani after members of Congress criticised a reportedly scant military briefing on Wednesday.
Mike Lee, a Republican senator for Utah, described the meeting as “the worst briefing I’ve seen at least on a military issue” in his nine-year career in Congress.
Mr Pence has claimed that revealing the administration’s evidence, even in a classified briefing, could “compromise” sources and intelligence collection efforts.
“Some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American forces and American personal also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have,” he told NBC’s Today.
“I can assure your viewers that those of us who have seen all the evidence … know that President Trump made the right decision,” he added.
The briefing on Wednesday was supposed to enlightened members of Congress on the justification for the airstrike, which has drastically increased tensions between the US and Iran.
However, Democrats and Republicans derided the briefing, calling it “insulting” and “utterly unconvincing”.
In particular, Mr Lee took issue with administration officials who refused to answer key questions on the legal and moral justifications for the killing.
“We’re in a secure underground bunker where all electronic devices have to be checked at the door and they still refused to tell us. I find that really upsetting,” the senator told reporters.
Donald Trump has come under pressure to reveal evidence to explain why Soleimani posed an imminent threat to American forces.
On Thursday, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen published a redacted copy of the letter Mr Trump sent to Congress after the airstrike took place.
“From all we’ve seen, including the redacted parts here and the briefing, the facts do not show an imminent threat,” Mr Van Hollen wrote on Twitter.
Mr Pence has also faced criticism over his unwillingness to share evidence due to his support for the Iraq war.
In 2004, as a US congressman, he declared that “weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) have been found in Iraq” in a speech supporting the invasion.
However, the CIA’s final report on the issue in 2005 concluded that the search for WMDs had “gone as far as feasible” and found nothing.
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