Senator Warner criticizes the White House for excluding Democrats from the briefing on drug boat strikes

Jeff Bennett:

Keeping our focus on Capitol Hill, top Senate Democrats are attacking the White House after being left out of a classified briefing on recent US military strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, strikes that the administration says target suspected drug traffickers.

Yesterday’s briefing included more than a dozen Republican senators, but no Democrats. This comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raise concerns about transparency and oversight.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the move dangerous and indefensible.

Senator Warner joins us now.

Thank you for being here.

Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia):

Thank you.

Jeff Bennett:

So what is your understanding of how the White House organized and arranged this briefing?

Senator Mark Warner:

Okay, let’s back up for a moment.

As Vice Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, I am part of what is called the G8. If there is anything secret, especially with respect to foreign policy, where we have forces at risk, since we are sending an aircraft carrier to the region now, we will be informed of it.

I received a briefing on some of these topics a week ago. And my friend who I worked with, Secretary Rubio, promised me this legal opinion, because I was concerned about the sailors who were deployed, oh my God, what is the legal basis that we’re doing to blow up these boats and what’s going to happen with Venezuela, he promised me this legal opinion and more of the briefing.

We did not receive it. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden the White House held a press briefing that didn’t even include the proper key Republicans, but just a random group, because they’re worried that there might be a War Powers Act issue about this next week, because we’ve not only had the drug traffickers issue, but also Venezuela.

The theoretical idea that this would suddenly be informed solely on a partisan basis is completely at odds with any kind of oversight exercised by Congress. It’s – it’s an insult. It’s dangerous. It undermines the integrity of our national security framework.

Quite frankly, I think we’ve made it to the White House. They said: Bad. But my call now is, if we’re going to have forces in harm’s way, if we’re going to start blowing up boats or continuing to blow up boats in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, all Senators should read.

Jeff Bennett:

Why do you think the White House impeached the Democrats?

Senator Mark Warner:

I think this is the pattern. We saw this a little bit when the president bombed Iran. He only notified the Republicans, he didn’t notify the Democrats, although I – I’ve never seen an administration before – even in the Trump administration, I disagreed with them, but they had professionals in place.

This administration believes it can blow up Congress at every corner. When it comes to national security, this kind of failure in oversight can lead us to very bad places. I believe that this is nothing but a political decision that goes against the law, goes against precedent, and goes against the whole idea of ​​censorship.

Especially when we’re talking about a secret item, there are only 17 of us who have any kind of insight into the matter. And if you suddenly make it partisan to just that group or suddenly transcend that group, as they did yesterday, into just another random Republican, that undermines our entire basis for congressional oversight and national security.

Jeff Bennett:

Question about the committee itself, because the Senate Intelligence Committee has a good reputation with Democrats and Republicans working together on national security matters. You had a good working relationship with Marco Rubio when he was at the head of the Republican Party. Same for Richard Burr, Saxby Chambliss.

Why not Tom Cotton? What happened? What are the dynamics?

Senator Mark Warner:

I’m trying to work with Senator Cotton. We have a good personal relationship. But not just on the intelligence issue, but on many issues, I think in the past, a show of bipartisan support was seen as strength.

I feel like, from this White House, you’re going to lose points with them if you’re bipartisan. I recently saw another case where my good friend Mike Crapo mounted massive Republican opposition to the destruction of community development financial institutions, and he made the judgment that it would be better to just be a Republican.

This is serious enough when you talk about the financial sector. I think it’s unpalatable and against the law when you’re talking about national security.

Jeff Bennett:

Leaving aside procedural issues for a moment, what is your assessment of the strikes themselves? Do you think it was implemented within the limits of American law and American interests?

Senator Mark Warner:

I have no idea because I haven’t seen the legal opinion. I know that I have been contacted by families of sailors, saying that they are concerned that their sons and daughters may be violating international law.

We also lack clarity about the president’s goals and ambitions for Venezuela. Let me be clear. I am against drug dealers. I am against Maduro as a bad man. And frankly, under Biden, we should have done that – when the Venezuelans voted to oust him, we should have put more pressure there.

But to do it without a legal opinion, to do it without potentially endangering troops in Venezuela without any explanation, to do it solely on a partisan basis, again, that’s unprecedented, and that’s not how national security works.

Jeff Bennett:

On the other hand, the president now says he wants the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing, on an equal footing with Russia in China.

It is not clear whether he is talking about testing the launch systems or actually testing the bombs themselves. The United States, as you know, has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992. How do you assess what is known, I imagine, about the strategic logic behind this step?

Senator Mark Warner:

I didn’t – this – was this a planned policy change? Was this like throwing a friend into the water before meeting President Xi? I don’t know.

And if the president were to make that kind of dramatic shift, historically, by law, you’re supposed to brief Congress. There are times when a president must act quickly, as all presidents do, when the moment is right. And generally, you kind of allow it to happen.

In fact, President Trump in his first term was very good at briefing. In fact, when he threatened to bomb Iran in his first term, he literally brought together the entire leadership of Congress on national security and had an extensive debate.

The idea now is that he kind of ignores any congressional oversight — and this is where I appeal again to Republicans who I know care about our country and care about the law just as much — you have to stand up and just say, this is not right. If you don’t back down, as we’ve seen in case after case, this president will push the edge and push the boundaries.

If he were suddenly on his own, resuming nuclear weapons testing without a briefing, or launching strikes in the Caribbean, or in the Pacific, or perhaps looking for regime change in Venezuela, and only briefing one party, that would be a long step away from the way this country should operate.

Jeff Bennett:

While you’re here, I want to ask you about the shutdown, because every day it squeezes more Americans who are feeling its impact, from losing their paychecks to shutting down services.

How do you think this will be resolved?

Senator Mark Warner:

I think the matter needs to be resolved next week. People are seeing their health care bills explode. We are already seeing millions of Americans potentially losing out on nutritional benefits while our costs continue to rise. Everyone knows that grocery prices have skyrocketed under this president.

And again, what’s a little frustrating is, in the past, as someone who’s always been part of these so-called partisan gangs that come together to try to get us out of these challenges, you have to be willing to piss off your team and the other team to get it done. And in this administration, I don’t think any Republican is free to make a deal without the president’s approval.

So I think we have to solve this problem next week. The president appeared. I hope he puts America first. That means let’s solve this problem. Let’s reopen the government. Let’s move forward and find a way to avoid this health care abyss and also make sure Americans who deserve this food assistance get it.

Jeff Bennett:

Senator Mark Warner, thank you very much for your views and for coming. We appreciate that.

Senator Mark Warner:

Thank you.