Jake Tapper Grills DefSec Esper on Trump Comments About Threats to Embassies: ‘Is the President Embellishing?’

CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled Defense Secretary Mark Esper this morning on his comments reacting to what President Donald Trump has said publicly about Iran intelligence and alleged threats to four embassies.

The president made those remarks in an in interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.

When Tapper asked if that specific threat was in the intel, Esper said, “There was intelligence that they — there was an attempt to target the embassy in Baghdad. What the president said with regard to the four embassies is what I believe as well. He said he believed that they probably… could have been targeting the embassies in the regional. I believe that as well, as did other national security team members, and that is why I deployed thousands of additional paratroopers in the region to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other embassies in the region.:

Tapper said there’s no question Soleimani was a threat, again asking, “Was there specific intelligence that he was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies? Did you see any intelligence like that?”

“I’m not going to discuss intelligence matters here on the show,” Esper said.

“But the president did though,” Tapper said.

“What the president said is that he believed and said he could have been targeting, all of those things that I believe as well,” Esper responded. “The important thing is this. Soleimani orchestrated, resourced, directed the attacks escalating up to December 1 that killed an American, he orchestrated the siege on the embassy in Baghdad, and he was planning this much broader plot in multiple countries that would be bigger in scale and likely would have taken us to open hostility with Iran.”

“A belief is not the same thing as ‘there was evidence,'” Tapper said. “I mean, you could believe that Soleimani would have attacked the Eiffel Tower, that’s not necessarily based in evidence.”

“There was evidence that part of the attack would be against a United States embassy… in Baghdad,” Esper said.

Tapper asked again if there was a threat to four embassies. Esper said Trump “didn’t cite intelligence” and instead said “there probably could have been” a threat.

At one point Tapper brought up a tweet from Justin Amash, the former Republican congressman who became an independent last year:

When President Trump lies or embellishes on a topic this sensitive, and administration officials then parrot his claims to avoid drawing his ire, the situation becomes extremely dangerous for our troops and the American people. https://t.co/Dywr56LsDg

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 10, 2020

Tapper asked, “Is the president embellishing?”

“I don’t believe so,” Esper responded. He said he understand Congress’ frustration before saying, “One of the briefers told me… that nearly all the members of that Gang of 8 believed that the intelligence was persuasive as well and that it should not be shared with the broader membership because of the concerns that it could be released — reveal our sources and methods.”

You can watch above, via CNN.