Washington-Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat of Conn.
“That is a decision that makes the camera. That is not a decision that the Senate makes. But it is clear that this is illegal,” Murphy said when asked if he agreed with the comments of the representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Trump’s strikes were reasons for demand.
The Chamber votes on whether to accuse a president, while the Senate votes about the conviction.
A president can launch military attacks if there is a “declaration of war”, authorization of Congress or “a national emergency created by an attack against the United States, its territories or possessions, its armed forces,” according to the resolution of war powers. Trump’s strikes, argue some Democrats, violate the resolution.
Last week, the Senate voted against a resolution that would have required Trump to seek the approval of Congress before authorizing any additional military action against Iran. The vote was almost entirely along the lines of the party, with Senator Rand Paul, Republican of R-Ky.
He asked for the second time about moderator Kristen Welker if the New York Democrat was on the right way by suggesting a political trial, Murphy said Trump’s behavior during his second term has been worse than the first.
“Once again, that is a decision that makes the camera. But I will say, I mean, if you compare your behavior in this administration with the behavior for which she was accused in the first administration, her conduct in this administration is much worse, much more without law and much more unconstitutional,” Murphy said.
Trump was accused twice during his first term, although the Senate was never convicted. Democrats are a minority both in the Chamber and in the Senate, which makes trial efforts unlikely.
Murphy has called Trump’s decision to attack illegal Iran because the president did not seek the authorization of Congress.
“I have been informed about intelligence: there is no evidence that Iran represented an imminent threat to the United States. That makes this attack illegal,” Murphy said in a statement in the hours after the attack. He added that “only Congress can declare a preventive war.”
Trump has repeatedly insisted that American attacks “erased” Iran’s nuclear facilities, while US officials have also said that he would completely understand the impact of strikes.
An initial evaluation of the defense intelligence agency, which leaked, said that the bombing can only have delayed Iran’s nuclear program for several months. NBC News has reported that the day described its “low trust” evaluation, and several US officials have said that intelligence indicated that nuclear sites were very damaged or destroyed.
Murphy said Sunday that Iran’s nuclear capacity “was simply erased.”
He said that if he were the commander in chief, he would not have authorized the strikes.
“No, I would not have literally authorized strikes at the time we were sitting with the Iranians trying to reach a peaceful settlement,” Murphy said. “The only way you will prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon is an agreement.”
The general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a CBS news interview published on Sunday that Iran could resume enrichment in months.
“The capabilities they have are there,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, according to a transcription published before the interview transmission. “They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, some cascades of centrifuging turning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that. But as I said, frankly speaking, it cannot be said that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there.”
