Mike Pence says Congress might 'compromise sources and methods' if fully briefed on the Soleimani strike

• Vice President Mike Pence insisted on Thursday that the administration couldn't reveal more information to lawmakers about the alleged "imminent threat" posed by an Iranian general the US military assassinated last week.
• Pence said in interviews with NBC News and Fox News that providing more information about the threat to lawmakers in a classified setting could compromise sensitive "sources and methods."
• This comes as many lawmakers - including two Republican senators - have slammed the administration for failing to provide Congress with key information about the threat after the fact.
• The administration has repeatedly insisted it was forced to "act in self-defense," but has not made public any information regarding a specific threat.
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Vice President Mike Pence appeared on Fox and Friends and The Today Show Thursday morning to insist that the Trump administration couldn't reveal more information - even to lawmakers in a classified setting - about the alleged "imminent threat" posed by an Iranian general the US military assassinated last week.

Pence said that congressional lawmakers might compromise sensitive "sources and methods" if they were given more information about the specific attack Soleimani was allegedly planning.

"Some of that has to do with what's called sources and methods," Pence told NBC News. "Some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American forces and American personnel also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have - it could compromise those sources and methods."

He added, "I can assure your viewers that those of us that have seen all the evidence ... in real time know that President Trump made the right decision to take Qassem Soleimani off the battlefield."

On Wednesday, many lawmakers - including two Republican senators - slammed the administration for failing to provide what they considered adequate information about the reasons for the attack that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah lashed out at the administration following the briefing, calling it "probably the worst briefing, at least on a military issue, I've seen in nine years I've been here."

Lee said the administration's refusal to seek authorization from Congress to kill a top Iranian government official, and thus dramatically escalate conflict with Iran, was "insulting," "demeaning," and "unconstitutional."

"It's un-American, it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong," he said, adding that the administration told lawmakers"to run along and be good little boys and girls and not debate" the merits of the targeted killing, which also took out a top Iraqi leader.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that the government was forced to "act in self-defense" by killing Soleimani last week but has not made public any information regarding a specific threat.

Pence on Thursday told Fox News that Soleimani was "travelling the region to make preparations for a larger attack on American forces and American personnel" when the US military killed him outside the Baghdad international airport.