Legal and national security experts expressed concern and anger Monday afternoon as word spread the White House would be briefing Congress on bombshell reports Russia has been paying the Taliban to kill American soldiers – and that Democrats would be banned from that briefing.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the White House never briefed the Gang of Eight, which could be a violation of the law.
Meanwhile, Politico’s congressional reporter Kyle Cheney said Trump’s decision to a GOP-only meeting was “briefing political allies first,” but others were less generous in their assessments.
Presumably the briefing will be conducted by the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe (photo).
CNN National Security Analyst Sam Vinograd, a former Senior Advisor to the White House’s National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama called it “politicizing intelligence.”
Law and national security expert Joshua Geltzer shared the same thought:
Former CIA analyst and former National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price:
Law professor:
Defense News’s Deputy editor and Pentagon Correspondent:
Defense One executive editor Kevin Baron suggested the briefing was partisan politics, not oversight:
U.S. Rep. Brian Schatz (D-HI) called it “disgusting.”