Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, reminded Rubio that the purpose of congressional oversight is to “encourage, if necessary, consultations between the administration and Congress.”
“Of course, the commander in chief has the authority under Article II to defend the American people against an imminent threat or an imminent attack. Otherwise, how could we be kept safe,” Coons said. “But our Article I power requires consultation.”
Coons said Maduro’s capture was “flawlessly executed”, but he also said it was a “dangerous and high-risk maneuver”.
“I’m glad it ended as well as it could have,” Coons said. “But the point here, what I want to say first, is that it was rehearsed for months.”
As Coon emphasized, “if there was time to practice, there was time to consult”.
Rubio acknowledged that consultations with Congress have been a “point of tension” in this and other administrations. But he argued that “the situation we live in here is very special”.
“Actually, this mission could not be reported to Congress, because it was not possible until very late in December, because all efforts to negotiate with Maduro failed, and finally the president was presented with these options that made these decisions,” Rubio said.
Rubio added, “It was also a trigger-based operation. It might never have happened. It took a number of factors to align everyone in the right place, at the right time, in a very limited window.”
He said that despite efforts to keep the mission “relatively limited,” it was eventually leaked by a Pentagon contractor. And if it had been published, he said, lives would have been in danger or they would have lost their ability to complete the mission.
“This is a real strain and I’m doing the best I can to manage it,” Rubio said.
Coon replied that “The Gang of Eight has never leaked.”
“Consultation with Congress is critical,” Coons said. “To be safe, our allies need to trust us, and for this committee to do our job, we need to trust you.”