White House Gets Epic Response After Calling GOP Senator “Wildly Wrong” or “Lying” About Iran Deal
http://injo.com/2016/05/604425-white-house-spokesman-calls-senators-wildly-wrong-or-lying-about-iran-deal/By Kate Bennett (2 days ago) | Editor's Choice, Politics
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 30: White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest conducts the daily press briefing at James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House October 30, 2015 in Washington, DC. The White House announced today that U.S. special forces will be deployed to help fight ISIS in Syria. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Getty - Alex Wong
The White House is unloading on congressional Republicans, singling one out in particular, and it sparked quite a response.
Asked today at the White House press briefing if deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes will appear before a House Oversight Committee about possible falsifications involved with the Iran deal, spokesman Josh Earnest defended Rhodes.
Earnest took the opportunity to spin the question towards Republicans in Congress, suggesting they should be the ones to testify about lies instead.
He saved most of his ire and sarcasm for Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, since last year a vocal critic of Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal:
“Senator Tom Cotton, who I know has a special relationship with the supreme leader [of Iran], so maybe he’s got some interesting insight into the deal he’d like to share with the Committee. He said that the deal would, quote, ‘gives them,’ meaning Iran, ‘$150 billion dollars of sanctions relief.’ Not true! Senator Tom Cotton, either wildly wrong or lying!”
This is Tom Cotton:
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 02: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, February 2, 2016 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on a recent decision to open combat units to women. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Image Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Here is how Cotton responded to the White House, telling Independent Journal Review in an email statement:
“If Josh Earnest or any of the President’s other fan boys were man enough to wear the uniform or lead men in combat as they tried to avoid being killed by Iranian roadside bombs they wouldn’t find this so funny. But if they want to have a debate over the Iran deal and whose actually lying to whom, then I am happy to appear before Congressman Chaffetz’s committee and provide the facts.”
Cotton was one of several GOP politicians Earnest emphatically cited by name as those who have in the past said the Iran nuclear deal would be a costly endeavor for the United States, benefiting in billions in sanctions for Iran, something the administration has denied.
Earnest today called those statements by sitting members of Congress “wildly false accusations about the deal.”
In addition to Cotton, Earnest had choice words for Senator Ted Cruz, dubbing him one of the “misinformed” Republicans because of an August 2015 statement in which Cruz said “over $100 billion will flow into Iran as a result of the deal.”
House Representatives Ken Buck, Paul Gosar, Steve Scalise, and Cynthia Loomis were also named by Earnest during the briefing today.
“I don’t know whether our critics were just wildly misinformed, mistaken, or lying, but if Republicans are interested in getting to the bottom of this, then they should just swear in some members of their own conference and figure it out.”
As for the letter requesting Rhodes appear before the Committee to testify on the deal, which came about in part due to Rhodes’ own interview with New York Times Magazine, Earnest said the White House would take a look at it.
However, he remained non-committal as to whether Rhodes, a senior member of Obama’s team, would participate.
Asked a followup question about the amount of sanctions relief Iran did receive in the deal, if it was not, as Earnest says, in the $100-150 billion range, the White House spokesman said:
“We know it’s a whole lot less than that.”
Earnest explained that a final number is not yet defined, but he put an estimate at $50 billion.
