The White House is strongly denying a CNN report that claimed President Trump only briefed Republican leaders ahead of the airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, calling the story “fake news” and demanding a retraction.
“This is Fake News,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. “The White House made bipartisan courtesy calls to Congressional Leadership and spoke to Sen Schumer before the strike. Rep. Jeffries could not be reached until after, but he was briefed. CNN please retract.”
CNN reported that “top Democrats were not told of his plans until after the bombs had dropped,” citing unnamed sources. According to the outlet, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were only informed “shortly before the public announcement — and after the attack itself.”
Democrats reacted angrily, according to the now-disputed story. Sen. Mark Warner accused the administration of acting “without consulting Congress, without a clear strategy, without regard to the consistent conclusions of the intelligence community, and without explaining to the American people what’s at stake.” Rep. Sean Casten called the strike an “impeachable offense,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders labeled it “grossly unconstitutional.”
Critics online also piled on CNN:
Despite the backlash, the White House maintains that bipartisan outreach was made in advance and continues to blast the report as politically motivated misinformation. As of Sunday evening, CNN had not retracted the story. Stay tuned as this is a developing story.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY