Tim Kaine demands release of secret Trump war powers memo

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Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is demanding the release of a secret memo outlining President Trump’s interpretation of his legal authority to wage war.

Kaine, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, sent a letter Thursday night to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking a 7-page memo the administration has kept under wraps for months.

Kaine has been leading the charge for Trump to outline his legal rationale for a U.S. bombing campaign in Syria last April in response President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical attacks on civilians in that country. The Virginia Senator and others worry that such action compromises congressional oversight over military action.

There is a new urgency to obtain the memo given increasing U.S. involvement in Syria and recent Trump administration rhetoric on North Korea. Shortly after the 2017 bombing raid, several members of Congress called on Trump to justify it under U.S. and international law. Article I of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war.

“The fact that there is a lengthy memo with a more detailed legal justification that has not been shared with Congress, or the American public, is unacceptable,” Kaine said in the letter to Tillerson, obtained by NBC News.

“I am also concerned that this legal justification may now become precedent for additional executive unilateral military action, including this week’s U.S. airstrikes in Syria against pro-Assad forces or even an extremely risky ‘bloody nose’ strike against North Korea,” wrote Kaine.

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Wow what a dangerous game, I got a feeling we are going to see more and more demands for some classified memo to be release because it may damage the other parties reputation.
 
Wow what a dangerous game, I got a feeling we are going to see more and more demands for some classified memo to be release because it may damage the other parties reputation.
I think the main issue is.

“The fact that there is a lengthy memo with a more detailed legal justification that has not been shared with Congress, or the American public, is unacceptable,”

I dont think its about memo vs memo.
 
I think the main issue is.

“The fact that there is a lengthy memo with a more detailed legal justification that has not been shared with Congress, or the American public, is unacceptable,”

I dont think its about memo vs memo.
It's always about who's memo's bigger. They need to just whip their memo's out in the next Congressional meeting and get to it. Or start chucking them across the isle at each other like shuriken. First politician that flinches from the inevitable papercut gets called out as a punk and has their filibuster privileges suspended for three months.
 
It's always about who's memo's bigger. They need to just whip their memo's out in the next Congressional meeting and get to it. Or start chucking them across the isle at each other like shuriken. First politician that flinches from the inevitable papercut gets called out as a punk and has their filibuster privileges suspended for three months.
Dont get distracted by "memo", substance is everything.
 
There isn't any legal issue w/the Tomahawk aid package so it has the appearance of being a bad pretext for this, but I agree the memo should be declassified because it's about separation of powers. We have had 16 years of Congress refusing to discharge their war making duties, leaving it all on the President. That's completely unfair to this country.
 
Can’t do it.

National security at risk, millions may die.
 
Literally nobody cares what Tim Kane says.
 
you mean the Act that authorized say the bay of pigs? Vietnam? Korean conflict? Somalia? Rwanda?

and on and on
 
Literally nobody cares what Tim Kane says.
But you care about who has what powers for making war, no? I'd like to know what the President believes his powers are in this area. Hard to imagine somebody who cares about government and politics not wanting to know that one.
 
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Tim Kaine, Tim Kaine, I know I've heard his name somewhere before. It'll come to me.
 
“I am also concerned that this legal justification may now become precedent for additional executive unilateralmilitary action.”

Timmy Kain, I’m sorry to say that this boat has come and gone. Sorry, pal.
 
But you care about who has what powers for making war, no? I'd like to know what the President believes his powers are in this area. Hard to imagine somebody who cares about government and politics not wanting to know that one.


Hmmmm


Tim Kaines opinion, or the opinion of general mattis...
 
Hmmmm


Tim Kaines opinion, or the opinion of general mattis...
I think you're obligated to answer that question instead of deflecting. It's not any sort of gotcha question, it's a really straightforward question about separation of powers.
 
Tim Kaine, Tim Kaine, I know I've heard his name somewhere before. It'll come to me.

Hint: He's the creepy looking dude, who talked to adults like they were in kindergarten, and who Hillary Clinton thought would make a great running mate.
 
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