Reporter: Did you notify Pelosi ahead of time?
Trump: "No, no I didn't. I wanted to make sure this was kept secret. I don't want to have men lost."
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) October 27, 2019
Reporter: Did you notify Pelosi ahead of time?
President Trump: No, no I didn't. I wanted to make sure this was kept secret. I don't want to have men lost 😎#Baghdadi pic.twitter.com/rHLGK8TlY3
— Wojciech Pawelczyk 🇵🇱🇺🇸 (@PolishPatriotTM) October 27, 2019
President Trump said Sunday morning that he did not tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the U.S. military raid in Syria that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi because he was worried about leaks that could have compromised the mission.
Vice President Mike Pence said this was not an indication of a lack of trust.
When asked if he notified Pelosi beforehand, Trump said he did not because he did not want any members of the U.S. forces to die.
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t do that. I wanted to make sure this kept secret,” Trump said. “I don’t want to have people lost.”
Pelosi issued a statement after al-Baghdadi’s death was announced, criticizing Trump for not informing leaders in Congress beforehand.
“The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region,” Pelosi said. “Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington.”
Trump said that he did notify Russia beforehand that the U.S. would be active in the region, because Russia currently has a presence there. The president said he did not reveal the purpose of the mission.
Pence downplayed Trump’s decision to keep Pelosi in the dark in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” immediately following Trump’s address. The vice president claimed that Trump did not mean to say he did not trust the House Speaker.
www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-he-kept-details-of-isis-operation-from-pelosi-to-avoid-leaks
Trump: “We were in the compound for approximately two
hours, and after the mission was accomplished, we took
highly sensitive material and information from the raid,
much having to do with ISIS origins, future plans,
things that we very much want.”
h/t dr0id