Rep. Brown: We didn’t get the facts that would support the conclusion there was an imminent threat
Maryland Democratic Congressman Rep. Anthony Brown reacts to the Iran briefing.
House Armed Services Committee Vice-Chairman Anthony Brown, D-Md., questioned the timing of last week's airstrike ordered by President Trump that killed terror-supporting Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
However, Brown underlined in his interview on "Fox News Reporting" that he was not condemning the Trump administration for killing the Quds Force commander.
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"General Soleimani is is no longer able to plan, coordinate, and orchestrate attacks. That’s a good thing," Brown told Bret Baier. "The process by which we went about doing it -- that’s a big departure from what we have seen from presidents in the past [like] George Bush and Barack Obama."
Brown, a U.S. Army veteran and Bronze Star recipient, spoke to Baier after attending a classified briefing from White House officials meant to detail the background of the drone strike that killed Soleimani at the Baghdad airport.
"We really didn't get the facts that I was anticipating that would support the conclusion," Brown said. "While we heard it [the strike] was based on credible evidence, we didn’t really receive a whole lot of information about what that intelligence was. I think -- like many Americans -- members of Congress are still asking the question, 'Why did we do it when we did it?'."
"Was it an assassination based on retribution, what [Soleimani] has done, or ... was it based on an imminent threat of what might occur?" Brown continued. "That’s where I think a lot of us walked away scratching our heads, saying 'where’s the beef?'"
Brown told Baier that it is important for the Trump administration to explain to Congress whether taking out "political-military leaders" of other nations is going to be the basis of future policy. He added that such a shift should be precipitated by Congressional debate and approval.
To that extent, Baier asked Brown about comments by Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, a former CIA undercover officer who said his experience working for the agency helped color his view of the attack.
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Hurd, who is retiring this year, said it is clear that the Iranian government has been able to "manipulate" Democratic lawmakers, presidential candidates, as well as the "western media," judging by their response to Trump's actions.
"To my colleagues condemning this decision, we cannot forget that Iran is the culprit, not the victim," Hurd added.
In response, Brown reiterated that he is not condemning Trump for the decision to take out Soleimani, but that his concern is with the internal judgments that led to the strike.
"The concern is, [and] I think many share it, the process," he said. "The decision-making process where the president made this decision was lacking."