Thread by @kgyp

Starting now: @SecPompeo briefs @HouseForeign Cmte on US policy in #iran and #iraq

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign "It shouldn't have been so difficult to get you here," @HouseForeign Chair @RepEliotEngel to @SecPompeo says he's disappointed Secretary of State visit to Capitol Hill is so short and took so long to set up following US airstrike on #Soleimani

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel Ranking member @RepMcCaul says the president acted with enormous restraint as #iran attacked US assets and was entirely within his rights to order the airstrike on #Soleimani

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul The Trump administration will not appease the enormous threat posed by the Iranian regime, @SecPompeo tells lawmakers. "His death removed the risk to our diplomats overseas," Pompeo says the decision to remove #Soleimani was the right one.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul First Democrat q to @SecPompeo: @davidcicilline says Trump administration has given the American people conflicting information on the threat posed by #iran and now on #coronavirus - asks how @StateDept is responding.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept Second Dem q from @RepBera: How is #iran responding to #coronavirus and will the U.S. send humanitarian assistance?

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera Pompeo says #iran "health care infrastructure is not robust and their willingness to share information has not been robust" and disagrees with premise of the question about US assistance.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera McCaul: Are we engaged in active hostilities against #iran?

Pompeo: We are not - the strategy is one of deterrence.

House Republicans have argued the #warpowers resolution sends a message to #iran that the US is divided in its response.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera "They recognize with which the seriousness America acted in taking the strike against #Soleimani," @SecPompeo asked how death of the general has impacted operations of the Quds force. "It clearly demonstrated our preparedness to take care of that threat."

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera "We have briefed Congress on #iran 70 times," @SecPompeo responding to @BradSherman noting it's taken the Secretary of State two and a half months to appear on Capitol Hill on Trump administration strategy.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman "I remember the president saying 'We'll see what happens' in #syria," @USRepKeating asks @SecPompeo about the lack of consistency in Trump administration responses to international crises. Keating says US left #NATO allies on the ground following US troop withdrawal

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating "What's going on in Idlib province breaks my heart - the world cannot stand by while Putin and Erdogan kills people. They are terrible atrocities," @HouseForeign Chair @RepEliotEngel addressing latest developments in #Syria

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating Pompeo says he can provide more details in a classified setting but that the US is actively watching to see how #iranian activities expand in #afghanistan during ongoing peace negotiations.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating "There is no replacing the strategic component #Soleimani was able to provide to the Ayatollah," @SecPompeo describing the deterrent impact of the US airstrike

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating Former CIA officer Spanberger arguing against the deterrent impact of the airstrike, notes a replacement for #Soleimani was appointed immediately and attacks on the U.S. continued.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating Rep. Levin presents @SecPompeo with a world map and asks him to point out the location of the embassies threatened by #Soleimani that administration used to justify the airstrike. Pompeo says he cannot divulge classified information.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating Engel: "It's an embarrassment to this committee that we couldn't get more than two hours from the Secretary of State."

Pompeo argues his appearance today is "an additional two hours" to his previous classified members briefing and other State briefings on #iran for Congress.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating Pompeo emphasizes that while the death of #Soleimani removed the immediate threat, it did not end Iranian strikes against the US. "This is why we have a strategic campaign to change their behavior," @SecPompeo says.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating "We were at a heightened sense of risk on both sides," @SecPompeo says of aftermath of #Soleimani strike but pushes back against characterizations U.S. was on the brink of WWIII.

@SecPompeo @HouseForeign @RepEliotEngel @RepMcCaul @davidcicilline @StateDept @RepBera @BradSherman @USRepKeating "How are we going to stop #iran from getting a nuclear weapon?" @repdinatitus asks @SecPompeo

Pompeo: "We'll stop them."

Titus: "That's not an answer. That's a bumper sticker...you're just blustering. This is not a plan."