Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, confessed on Wednesday that he had no idea what America's policy is Iran, and he's not certain President Donald Trump and his administration know either.
Speaking to MSNBC's Katy Tur, Warner said that as a member of the "Gang of 8," the top leaders who get the highest security briefings, he would be the one Democrat who should know what the goals and aims are in dealing with an Iranian nuclear threat. As it stands, he said he's completely in the dark.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was scheduled to brief the "Gang of 8" on Wednesday, but had to cancel the meeting to be at the White House.
NewsNation's Kellie Meyer said that a senior administration official told her, "The briefing is being rescheduled."
Warner shook his head and shrugged when asked if he could give an assessment of where the U.S. stands on the threat.
"Katy, I mean, foreign policy by tweet is insane," Warner said. "And that's what this guy is doing. You know, the truth is, you know, the one thing that Tulsi Gabbard, who I think is way over her skis in terms of competence on this, she did say that Iran had taken no action towards moving towards a bomb. And we got reconfirmed as early as Monday of this week that the intelligence hasn't changed."
Meanwhile, he said, the president is "basically dismissing all of the intelligence. I have no foggy idea what American policy is right now towards this circumstance. I'm the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee. If I don't have the foggiest idea, what do the American people know? And for that matter, what are our friends — [our] few friends remaining around the world know?"
He noted that over the past week, Trump has flip-flopped on whether he's willing to get involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel.
One of the reasons that voters supported Trump, Warner said, was that he pledged not to create endless wars in the Middle East.
He also noted that even during the first Trump term, they were getting more information about what was happening.
"If this president is just going to ignore the intelligence community, why do they even do their job?" Warner asked. "And the fact that there has not been any Gang of 8 brief. As a matter of fact, Director Gabbard canceled a brief with the Intelligence Committee this afternoon. She said she had to go to the White House. I will grant her that. But I have no idea what our policy is or what our goal is. Then what does the rest of the world and the American people have to turn to? This is not the way our system is supposed to work."
Trump clashed with Gabbard earlier this week after he was questioned about her statement that Iran didn't have a bomb.
"I don't care what she said," Trump snapped. "I think they were very close to having one."
Foreign affairs analyst Tom Friedman said on Wednesday morning that Trump is "paying for the fact that he appointed a cabinet of kuckleheads," including Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
See his full comments below or at the link here.
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