Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on Thursday night that the alleged threat from Iran “was real” even though the Trump administration didn’t know when or where the attack was supposed to happen.
During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Pompeo defended President Donald Trump’s drone strike on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani after Democrats and even two Republicans said the administration’s briefing to Congress on the strike did not sufficiently explain the reason for Soleimani’s assassination.
Pompeo accused the dissenting lawmakers of “using this as a political axe to grind.”
“There is no doubt that there were a series of imminent attacks that were being plotted by Qasem Soleimani,” he said. “And we don’t know precisely when and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real.”
Pompeo on the alleged “imminent threat” from Iran: “We don’t know precisely when and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real.” pic.twitter.com/oml5oeJgm6
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 10, 2020
On Friday morning, Pompeo confirmed he has no idea exactly when Soleimani’s “imminent” attack was allegedly going to happen.
“Completely true. Those are completely consistent thoughts,” he said when a reporter asked him about his comments on Fox. “I don’t know exactly which minute. We don’t know exactly which day it would have been executed.
Pompeo confirms he doesn’t actually know when Iran was going to execute the “imminent” attack that the Trump admin claims the country was going to carry out. pic.twitter.com/SkUOzoPxUF
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 10, 2020
When CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked the secretary of state what his actual definition of “imminent” was, he merely insisted the attack “was going to happen.”
CNN correspondent asks Pompeo what his definition of "imminent" is after he says he doesn't know when Iran's "imminent" attack was supposed to happen. pic.twitter.com/W69YMqsuEp
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 10, 2020
The administration has refused to provided any evidence of Iran’s alleged plans to attack the U.S.
