jan 3 2025 President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration’s decision not to brief senior congressional leaders ahead of the U.S. strike in Venezuela, arguing that advance notice would have jeopardized the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking Saturday at a press conference carried by Newsmax, Rubio said the mission was "trigger-based," unfolding only when specific conditions were met after days of monitoring.
Trump echoed that view, adding bluntly that Congress has "a tendency to leak," which he said could have produced "a very different result."
The comments came as multiple sources
told ABC News that the so-called "Gang of Eight," the top Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, were not briefed before the operation began.
Such leaders are typically notified of highly sensitive national security actions.
