Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas called the impeachment proceedings against him “baseless” and the accusations made against him by the Homeland Security Committee “false.”

“I will defer a discussion of Constitutionality of your current effort to the many respected scholars and experts across the political spectrum who already have opined it is contrary to law,” Mayorkas writes in a nearly seven-page letter to the committee. “What I will not defer to others is a response to the politically motivated accusations and personal attacks you have made against me.”

Mayorkas said the “false accusations” made by the committee “do not” rattle him and “do not” divert him “from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”

The House Homeland Security Committee is set to vote on whether to send articles of impeachment to the House floor for a vote. It is likely to pass despite no proof there were high crimes and misdemeanors — the usual bar for impeachment.

Policy disagreements on a “historically divisive” issue are what is going on here, he said in his letter, noting that he had a disagreement with the Trump administration through family separation.

“I have adhered scrupulously and fervently to the Oath of Office I have taken six times in my public service career,” he said.

Mayorkas, who is Cuban-American, said he has had “reverence” for law enforcement since he was brought to America by his parents who escaped the Communist takeover of Cuba.

“My parents experienced such loss at the fisted hands of authoritarianism that the American law enforcement officer stood as a tangible symbol of safety and the rule of law in our new home,” he said. “When I was a boy, my mother would have me jump out of the back seat of our family’s station wagon, approach a police officer in uniform, extend my hand, and say thank you.”

He continued in his letter: “It was because of everything America meant and gave to my family that I was motivated to enter public service.”

This is the first time Mayorkas has spoken at length about the impeachment move since articles were introduced over the weekend, and he offered a full-throated, vigorous defense of his record as secretary.

He recounted his federal service, first being appointed to serve as a U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, then as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director, and eventually as deputy secretary of Homeland Security.

“I no longer introduce and argue evidence in a federal courtroom to persuade the jury to convict a dangerous criminal, but the mission to which I remain devoted is the same: to safeguard the American people,” he said in his letter.

Mayorkas said as a U.S. attorney, he prosecuted RICO cases of national and international significance, “enforcing a wide breadth of criminal statutes.”

Republicans, in their argument to impeach him, have said Mayorkas has failed to enforce the law at the southern border.

“Instead, you claim that we have failed to enforce our immigration laws,” he said. “That is false.”

The Committee has accused the secretary of not cooperating with their oversight requests — something he said was also “baseless and inaccurate.”

“I have testified before this Committee seven times,” he wrote in his letter. “I agreed to testify again and asked to work with your staff to identify a mutually agreeable date. You did not respond to my request, changed course, and instead invited me to submit written testimony. Two days later, you issued a statement representing that every member of the Committee’s majority already had rendered their decision. I respectfully submit this letter in response.”

Secretary Mayorkas said he cooperates in “good faith” with the committee.

“I have testified more than any other member of the Cabinet,” he said, adding that despite the attempt to impeach him, he’ll still cooperate with the committee.

He ticked through the department’s accomplishments, including apprehending fentanyl smugglers and deporting criminals, but said there is much more to be done on the southern border.

Sec. Mayorkas called on Congress to get a legislative fix done at the border and said he has been working with the Senate to get it done.

“I have been privileged to join a bipartisan group of United States Senators these past several months to provide technical and operational expertise in support of their efforts to strengthen our country’s border security,” he said. “These efforts would yield significant new enforcement tools and make a substantial difference at our border.”

Mayorkas said he is hopeful that the deal gets done and that he can deliver more resources for border patrol agents in the field to better protect the border.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday indicted an Iranian man and two Canadian nationals in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme that targeted dissidents and critics of the Iranian regime.

According to a newly-unsealed indictment, prosecutors say Naji Zindashti conspired with two Canadian men between December 2020 and March 2021 in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate two residents of Maryland.

The intended victims of the plot, who at the time resided in Maryland, had previously fled to the United States after one of them defected from Iran, the DOJ said.

The three men allegedly used an encrypted messaging service and discussed logistics of how to carry out the murders, communicating cryptically about “jobs,” “equipment,” tools” and how to “make some money.”

One of the Canadian men, Damion Ryan, allegedly wrote that carrying out a murder in the U.S. would be challenging but he “might have someone to do it,” and recommended “2 guys go with proper equipment.”

The other Canadian man, Adam Pearson, allegedly stated in a message that “shooting is probably easiest thing for them” and said he’d encourage recruits to “shoot [the victim] in the head a lot [to] make example” and that he would tell them “we gotta erase his head from his torso.”

Zindashti allegedly arranged for $350,000 payment for the murders, to which Ryan responded, “We have a 4 man team ready.”

All three men are charged with one count of conspiracy to use interstate commerce in the commission of murder for hire.

Zindashti is believed to reside in Iran while Ryan and Pearson are currently in prison in Canada on unrelated offense, officials said.

The Treasury Department said Zindashti is a narcotics trafficker and leader of a network that operates at the behest of Iran’s intelligence services.

The two men he allegedly sought to recruit in the murder-for-hire plot revealed were members of Canada’s Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Group with a long criminal history of firearms and drug trafficking offenses, the Treasury Department said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Congressional leaders on Sunday mourned three American service members killed in a drone strike in Jordan and called for retaliation against the Iran-backed militants whom the U.S. says is responsible.

The deadly drone strike marks the first deaths of U.S. troops in the line of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.

The White House is supporting Israel against Hamas but has tried to contain the conflict out of concern for sparking a broader war in the Middle East, even as the U.S. has said that various fighters, aided by Iran, have carried out attacks on U.S. forces and others in opposition to Israel.

Until Sunday’s strike, the U.S. had undertaken a series of retaliatory operations on the Iran-linked groups.

Iran has not publicly commented on the strike in Jordan.

Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in an interview that he believes Iran, a regional power with major rivalries in the Middle East, does not want a war with the U.S.

But Republican lawmakers on Sunday spoke out to criticize President Joe Biden’s approach to Iran and some called for direct action against the country.

“We are saddened by the loss of three American heroes in Jordan last night, and we are praying for their families and for the … other service members who have been injured. America must send a crystal clear message across the globe that attacks on our troops will not be tolerated,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Heartbroken and outraged by the death of three U.S. service members and the wounding of many others during the horrific terrorist attack in the Middle East. Praying hard for all affected,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also wrote on the platform. “Every single malignant actor responsible must be held accountable.”

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noted in his own statement that the strike was just the latest by Iranian-backed proxies across the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria, by Hezbollah in Lebanon and by the Houthis in Yemen.

He pushed for a broader policy realignment, contending that the White House had “failed.”

“We need a major reset of our Middle East policy to protect our national security interests and restore deterrence,” McCaul said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed that, with the Kentucky Republican saying in a statement, “Last night, the cost of failure to deter America’s adversaries was again measured in American lives. We cannot afford to keep responding to this violent aggression with hesitation and half-measures.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Pentagon should respond by targeting Iran — a major move that could trigger further consequences and involve the U.S. more deeply in the region.

“The Biden Administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression. I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” Graham said in a statement. “The only thing the Iranian regime understands is force. Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on U.S. troops will continue.”

U.S. officials said that the one-way drone strike happened early on Sunday at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, near the Syrian border.

According to a defense official, at least 30 U.S. service members were injured in the attack in addition to the three killed.

In a statement, President Joe Biden honored the slain service members for being “unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country” before offering a warning of his own.

“Have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing,” he said in a statement.

Later Sunday, in South Carolina, he vowed that “we shall respond.”

ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford, Fritz Farrow, Mariam Khan and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust” and taking another step toward a historic attempt to remove him from office while he denies wrongdoing.

“These articles lay out a clear, compelling, and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement.

Green went to allege that Mayorkas “has willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws enacted by Congress. He has breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people, and obstructing congressional oversight of his department.”

Though Mayorkas has long been a focus of Republican criticism of the White House’s border policies — testifying multiple times before Congress — the Department of Homeland Security maintains that no high crimes or misdemeanor have ever been committed under the Biden administration.

DHS officials in a new memo dismissed the GOP-led investigation in the House as unconstitutional and “evidence-free” and sought to rebut the allegations in detail.

Administration officials also point to a number of legal experts, some brought forward by the House Homeland Security Committee, who say the constitutional grounds for impeachment have not been met.

Green said on Sunday that Mayorkas had to be held accountable.

“The results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country,” he said, in part. “Empowered and enriched cartels, mass fentanyl poisonings, surges of terror watchlist suspects, more criminal illegal aliens causing harm in our communities, and traumatized and exploited migrants will be Secretary Mayorkas’ open-borders legacy.”

The new articles of impeachment are set to be reviewed in committee on Tuesday and then would need to be adopted by the full chamber in order to put Mayorkas on trial in the Senate and potentially remove him.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that such a vote will occur “as soon as possible.”

Only one Cabinet secretary has ever been impeached by the House: William Belknap, who resigned as then-President Ulysses Grant’s secretary of war shortly before the House voted against him in 1876.

Belknap was accused of “corruption blatant even by the standards of the scandal-tarnished Grant administration,” according to Senate history, but didn’t receive the two-thirds majority of senators needed to convict.

The first of the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas accuses him of facilitating a “catch and release scheme,” arguing that he allowed migrants to be unlawfully released into the U.S. without ensuring processes were in place for deportation.

While immigration enforcement has been strained in recent months by large numbers of migrants crossing illegally, the Biden administration has responded by returning or removing more migrants than any prior administration, according to DHS.

The Border Patrol has made significantly fewer apprehensions along the southern border in recent weeks, a decline from record-setting levels seen in December.

The first impeachment article goes on to accuse Mayorkas of having circumvented the law by paroling migrants into the U.S. “en masse in order to release them from mandatory detention.”

Although the Biden administration has significantly expanded the use of humanitarian parole, the authority has been used by several prior administrations, DHS maintains. For example, the U.S. offered parole to Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon in the 1970s and to Iraqi Kurds in the 1990s.

Democrats say Republicans are trying to impeach Mayorkas over policy disputes, which legal experts have said are not grounds for impeachment.

“Legal disputes over the exercises of executive authority are a commonplace in every administration,” University of Missouri School of Law professor Frank Bowman told the House Homeland Security Committee at an impeachment hearing earlier this month. “And every president wins some and loses others. If the mere existence of such disputes were impeachable, every president and every Cabinet officer would be impeachable many times over.”

No prior administration has ever detained every unauthorized border crosser, DHS has noted, and even hard-line restrictions like those implemented under former President Donald Trump were bound by resource limits that resulted in many getting temporarily released into the U.S.

“What is glaringly missing from these articles is any real charge or even a shred of evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors – the Constitutional standard for impeachment,” the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, said in a statement. “That should come as no surprise because Republicans’ so-called ‘investigation’ of Secretary Mayorkas has been a remarkably fact-free affair.”

House Republicans in the second article accuse Mayorkas of lying to Congress and obstructing congressional oversight, claiming he lied when he said the border was “secure” and that DHS had “operational control.”

DHS officials said that while the definition of “operational control” under federal law means zero illegal entries into the U.S., that standard has never been met by any administration and Border Patrol has sought to redefine it instead as “the ability to detect, respond to, and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high priority.”

The Biden administration also maintains that Mayorkas has complied with the House committee’s requests.

The second impeachment article goes on to accuse Mayorkas of rolling back a series of Trump-era policies including the controversial “Remain in Mexico” program, construction on the southern border wall and international agreements that pressured Central American countries to hold asylum seekers.

ABC News’ Luke Barr and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a new interview that Democrats are right to fear the possible reelection of former President Donald Trump as he and other allies of President Joe Biden seek to create a clear “contrast” heading into November’s general election.

Speaking to ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an interview that aired Sunday, Newsom both lambasted Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election results and praised Biden’s record since taking office — a strategy the Biden campaign is expected to highlight in the months ahead as the president confronts persistently low approval ratings and poor early polling against Trump.

“Here’s a guy who lost the election — Trump — and tried to wreck the country. He’s lighting democracy on fire, he’s making democracy a partisan issue. I never imagined that in my lifetime,” Newsom told Karl in South Carolina, where he was stumping for Biden.

“So the consequences are profound and pronounced,” Newsom said, “and that’s why I’m down here because this race is started.”

That’s also why, Newsom said, “We need to lift up the issues, the successes, these extraordinary successes of the last three years, the Biden-Harris administration. And then we drive contrast. It’s not even a complicated campaign.”

Nonetheless, Karl pressed Newsom on why, if Biden’s record is as strong as Newsom feels it is, Biden’s approval ratings remained mired in the 30s in most polls.

“Look, it’s been hard globally, the last six, seven years.” Newsom responded. “But again, America stands tall. We’re the tentpole of the world economy — no peers economically, again a masterclass of delivery. The economy is booming, inflation is cooling. … He’s delivered.”

Still, the governor acknowledged the polls and said, “I’m not naive about this. I take the threat of Trump and Trumpism very seriously.”

But Trump’s legal challenges, including 91 charges, all of which he denies, could harm his standing in the eyes of the general electorate, Newsom said.

He pointed to some polls that indicate voters will be turned off if Trump were to be convicted.

“This is the weakest candidate to run a major party in my lifetime. He’s coming in deeply damaged. Democrats, we win. We keep winning. We’ve won all of these elections, post-Dobbs different world,” Newsom said, referencing the 2022 Supreme Court decision that eliminated constitutional protections for abortion and gave new political importance to abortion access.

Trump “is weak,” Newsom contended. “He is more unhinged than he’s ever been. He’s less disciplined than he’s ever been. He’s less interesting. I find him just less interesting. He’s not even as entertaining as he was in 2020 and 2016.”

On the other hand, Newsom also sought to swat away worries over Biden’s age (at 81 years old, a consistent sore spot for voters), pointing to the president’s increasing travel schedule.

Newsom did voice concerns over the potential impact of third-party candidates in the 2024 race, like from a hypothetical bipartisan ticket by the group No Labels. But he said Democrats should address any worries by ensuring that their own voters turn out later this year.

“We have to be worried. But you know what? You got to control the controllables. You got to control what you have to control. And right now, it’s getting the vote out,” he said.

Newsom, a border-state governor, lambasted the position of many Republicans in Washington who say that Biden has badly mismanaged immigration and the southern border and, as such, is not a viable partner on enacting any border reforms despite Biden asking for more resources and being open to some changes.

“They refuse to act,” he told Karl. “They’re just promoting an agenda to disrupt and find a crowbar, to put in the spokes of the wheels of the Biden administration to disrupt any progress on this, because they don’t want progress — period.”

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(WASHINGTON) — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is playing down the potential political fallout from former president Donald Trump’s latest legal setback — after the 2024 candidate was ordered by a New York jury to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83 million for defaming her when she said he sexually assaulted her decades ago.

Scott, in a new interview with ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, said voters will have other concerns and that average Americans are “not talking about lawsuits.”

“The one thing I think the electorate is thinking about most often is how in the world will the next president impact my quality of life? How will America regain its standing in this world? They were better off under Trump,” Scott said.

Trump continues to deny Carroll’s account but, after a jury trial last year, he was found liable for sexually abusing her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.

After another trial, jurors last week found he had defamed Carroll in the way he denied assaulting her. He has said he will appeal.

“Does that give you any pause in your support?” Raddatz asked Scott on “This Week.” The Republican senator endorsed Trump earlier this month after ending his own 2024 campaign.

“Myself and all the voters that support Donald Trump supports a return to normalcy as it relates to what affects their kitchen table,” Scott told Raddatz.

He went on to contend that the “perception that the legal system is being weaponized against Donald Trump is actually increasing his poll numbers.”

In addition to various lawsuits, Trump is charged in four separate criminal cases. He denies all wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.

Despite what Scott said, past polling has found Americans believe some of the accusations against Trump are serious: 63% said last year in an ABC News/Ipsos survey that the charges he faces in a Georgia election subversion indictment were serious or somewhat serious; and 65% felt the same in another 2023 ABC News/Ipsos poll about Trump’s federal indictment related to Jan. 6 and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

On “This Week,” Scott was also pressed about Trump’s continued embrace of 2020 election denialism, which Scott has not echoed.

The lawmaker, who was present during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks at the U.S. Capitol where Congress gathered to certify Trump’s election loss, has said publicly that although he believes there was “cheating” in the last presidential election, he does not “believe the election was stolen.” (No widespread evidence of fraud has ever been found.)

Raddatz pointed to Scott diverging from Trump and some other conservatives. “Does that concern you for the Republican Party, that they’re denying something you said was true?” she asked.

“The American people are more concerned about tomorrow than they are yesterday. And because of that, the race that we’re seeing coming to light today is [President] Joe Biden’s four years versus Donald Trump’s four years,” Scott responded. “We don’t need to litigate what happened in 2020. What I’m focusing on is what’s going to happen in 2024 and beyond.”

Scott’s endorsement of Trump was seen as something of a snub to Trump’s 2024 rival Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate in 2012 when she was governor of South Carolina.

Although Trump easily beat Haley in the first two contests for the Republican presidential nomination, in Iowa and New Hampshire, exit polls indicated he had some issues with independent and college-educated voters and Haley has vowed to stay in the race as the last major opponent to Trump.

Asked why he believes Haley should end her campaign, Scott said, “My theory is a simple one.”

“When I dropped out of the race in November, it was because the writing was clear on the wall then,” he said. “It is now more clear that what Republicans, conservatives and a lot of independents want today is four more years of Donald Trump.”

Still, Scott repeatedly dodged Raddatz after she pressed him on how Trump will win over independent voters in the general election despite the exit polls showing most of them backed Haley in New Hampshire.

Scott instead pointed to what he said was Trump’s relatively notable support among women as well as Black and Hispanic voters. And he went on to attack Haley for her criticism of Trump’s mental competency rather than defend Trump for calling Haley a “bird brain” and falsely claiming she can’t be president because her parents were not yet American citizens when she was born in South Carolina.

“Both candidates, and all candidates, should focus on the issues without any question. But Nikki Haley talks about the president’s age and a competency test. I think that turns off senior voters,” Scott said.

Haley has said Trump’s recent gaffes — apparently confusing the former ambassador for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden for former President Barack Obama — should be a “warning sign” about his mental fitness.

In response, Trump said on the trail that he feels like his mind is “stronger now than it was 25 years ago.”

Scott focused on Haley’s attacks when Raddatz asked about Trump’s insults of her.

“His language is far more provocative than mine,” Scott said. “But this is not about simply my opinion of one candidate. I also think that talking about someone’s age is inappropriate when, especially, they are competent, qualified and ready to go to be the next president of the United States.”

The focus, Scott said, should be on the general election: “This race is over from a primary perspective, OK. We should turn our attention to Joe Biden.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the country’s top military officer, is an experienced U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who has surmounted many challenges in his nearly 40-year career, including once having to eject and land in the Florida Everglades, an experience that earned him the call sign “Swamp Thing.”

“I didn’t see any gators, so that was good,” Brown said with a smile as he recounted the incident to ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz in an exclusive interview that aired Sunday, in which Brown looked back at his work so far — and what’s ahead.

“That must have been quite the experience,” Raddatz told Brown as she asked about what he lived through as a young captain in January 1991, when the F-16 he was flying over Florida caught on fire after being struck by lightning.

“A little bit,” the general replied. “But all your training kicks in and the checklist says if fire persists — eject. It was a pretty easy decision.”

Brown continued to rise through the ranks, assuming the Air Force’s top jobs in the Middle East and the Pacific and then becoming the Air Force chief of staff before being nominated by President Joe Biden last year to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was overwhelmingly confirmed in September.

There’s been much to do since then: Brown has worked nearly nonstop in dealing with overlapping crises that have consumed the Middle East after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel sparked a war just days after he took his new post.

‘A full-scale war?’

The United States has sought to contain the Israel-Hamas war from mushrooming into a regional conflict. But that has become more of a challenge as Iranian-backed fighters in Iraq, Syria and Yemen continue to launch attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and on American troops, citing support for Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza as Israel targets Hamas.

U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 150 times by Iranian-backed militia groups, according to the Pentagon, and the Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have carried out more than 30 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

That has prompted ongoing U.S. retaliatory strikes on the Houthis and other fighters but the attacks have continued, sparking questions and concern about the broader military strategy, as well as some criticism from lawmakers that Congress is not involved.

Brown acknowledged that there is a delicate balance to be struck between the U.S. goal of deterrence in the region while also protecting U.S. forces.

“We’ve got to be thoughtful about our approach in these areas, and we can’t predict exactly how any one of these groups is going to respond,” he said.

“I would also ask, what do they [critics of the current approach] want? A broader conflict? Do you want us in a full-scale war?” he said.

Brown told Raddatz the American airstrikes have “had an impact” on the Houthis’ ability to continue carrying out missile and drone attacks, though he declined to say by how much.

The U.S. strikes on Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq have resulted in some political pressure there for America’s decades-old military presence in the country to end.

Brown believes that while Iran would like for the U.S. to leave Iraq, he also does not believe that Iran — a regional power with major rivals in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia — wants a war with the United States.

On the Israel-Hamas war, for which the U.S. is providing Israel various forms of assistance, Brown said that he is in regular contact with his Israeli counterpart to stress the importance of preventing civilian casualties in the fight against Hamas.

The number of Palestinian fatalities has risen to more than 25,000, according to figures released by the Gaza Ministry of Health.

That high number of casualties has fueled international criticism of Israel’s war effort, even as Israeli officials stress that they seek ways to curb civilian deaths.

“What I’ve communicated to them from the very beginning and through my most recent communications is [that] as you conduct military operations, you’ve got to be sensitive to collateral damage,” Brown told Raddatz. “And at the same time, you’ve got to bring in humanitarian assistance.”

Focused ‘on doing my job,’ not Trump

Brown’s predecessor, Gen. Mark Milley, has spoken at length about his fraught relationship with former President Donald Trump, apologizing for a controversial photo-op at the height of the George Floyd protests and seemingly referring to Trump as a “wannabe dictator” during his exit speech in September.

Trump has referred to Milley as a “traitor” because Milley reached out to China in late 2020 and early 2021 to privately reassure them that the U.S. wasn’t going to attack, Milley has told Congress. Trump suggested that was an act, revealing the president’s thinking, where previously “the punishment would have been death.”

“When you hear things like that, what do you think?” Raddatz asked on Sunday.

“I don’t listen to it,” said Brown. “I’m focused on doing my job.”

Raddatz also asked Brown what he learned from Milley’s experience with Trump that could be helpful if the former president is reelected.

Brown said he had spoken with his predecessors and would take what he learned from them and their experiences to “be able to operate and support whoever the president may be.”

“So you wouldn’t have concerns about working under a president who thinks the election was stolen?” said Raddatz.

“I’m going to work for the — whatever president gets elected,” Brown said.

Reflecting on Floyd

Brown drew praise for a June 2020 video titled “Here’s what I’m thinking about” that he released in response to the nationwide protests and unrest sparked by Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

In the highly personal video, Brown recounted his own experiences with racism and his perspective as a Black man and Black military leader.

“I’m thinking about wearing the same flight suit, with the same wings on my chest, as my peers and then being questioned by another military member,” Brown said in the video.

“I’m thinking about my mentors, and how I rarely had a mentor that looked like me, he said. “I’m thinking about the pressure I’ve felt to perform error-free, especially for supervisors I perceived had expected less from me as an African American.”

In his interview on Sunday, Brown was asked about the video, “What really drove you to do that?”

“My son,” he said, choking up. “My son called me about four days prior to that video. He was very much struggling with the death of George Floyd.”

Brown shared that his son had asked him what the Pacific Air Forces was going to say, which Brown took to mean what he would say publicly, since he was the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Pacific.

He told Raddatz that he was torn about whether to say something, as he was still awaiting Senate confirmation to be the next Air Force chief of staff, but “then I just decided to say it and if I didn’t get confirmed, so be it.”

Now, nearly four years later, Brown said that he feels the country still has room to change.

“I think everybody wants to have a fair shot,” he said. “I don’t want to be disadvantaged or advantaged based on my background.”

“I want to be judged based on my own accomplishments, based on my merits, and given an opportunity,” he said.

“That’s what I’ve asked for throughout my Air Force career. And hopefully, you know, I’m sitting in this chair as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs — not because I’m African American — because I’m a quality officer,” he continued. “And that’s what I want to be judged on.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S.-led retaliatory strikes launched against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea are intended to prevent future conflict, and the U.S. does not want to “go down a path of greater escalation,” Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz in an exclusive interview.

Brown spoke with Raddatz as the Houthis stepped up their attacks Friday off the shores of Yemen, launching anti-ship ballistic missiles in two separate attacks. One missile hit a British-operated oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, setting it on fire.

The other missile was shot down by the U.S. Navy destroyer the USS Carney without causing damage.

You can see more of Martha Raddatz’ exclusive interview with Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Raddatz’s exclusive interview with Brown will air Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Raddatz asked Brown about suggestions by critics that the Biden administration isn’t being tough enough on these militants — or on Iran, which the U.S. accuses of financing the attacks.

Brown, who as chairman is President Joe Biden’s top military adviser, responded: “I would also ask, what do they want? A broader conflict? Do you want us on a full-scale war?”

Brown said the goal is deterrence, while protecting U.S. forces.

“We’ve got to be thoughtful about our approach in these areas, and we can’t predict exactly how any one of these groups is going to respond,” he said. “And so we’ve got to make sure we look at the key partner force protection, but also the ability to take away their capability.

“And we don’t want to go down a path of greater escalation that drives to a much broader conflict, within the region,” he said.

The Houthis insist the more than 30 attacks in the Red Sea since last fall are retaliation for U.S. and British support of Israel’s war against Hamas.

In the case of the British-operated oil tanker, the ship was damaged and the crew was forced to abandon ship. U.S. officials said the crew was able to make it aboard a lifeboat, while the USS Carney and a French warship were en route to provide assistance.

Some lawmakers, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have welcomed the U.S.-led strikes, calling them necessary but overdue.

“The United States and our allies must leave no room to doubt that the days of unanswered terrorist aggression are over,” McConnell said.

But other lawmakers have insisted that Congress be consulted first. In a letter to Biden on Friday, a bipartisan group of 22 House lawmakers called the strikes “unauthorized.” A group of bipartisan senators, including Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., wrote a similar letter earlier this week.

The Pentagon has called the strikes self-defense, which would not require pre-authorization from Congress.

“We urge your Administration to seek authorization from Congress before involving the U.S. in another conflict in the Middle East, potentially provoking Iran-backed militias that may threaten U.S. military servicemembers already in the region, and risking escalation of a wider regional war,” the House lawmakers wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — Muslim and Arab American leaders in Michigan canceled a meeting with President Joe Biden’s campaign team amid increasing opposition to his administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, multiple people tell ABC News.

“We’re dumbfounded,” the National Executive Director of The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Abed Ayoub, told ABC News. “Why does this administration still believe that we’re just going to be willing to meet with them with no movement on their part on our demands? And they’ve been the same demands since October, and nothing’s changed.”

Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe, who had organized the planned meeting between the campaign and the community, was the one who canceled it, a person familiar with the decision tells ABC News.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the Biden administration has faced calls for the U.S. to support a permanent cease-fire as emphatic protests over its staunch support of Israel persist.

On Tuesday, as Biden delivered a major campaign speech in Virginia on abortion rights, he was interrupted some 14 times by pro-Palestine demonstrators chanting, “Genocide Joe,” and “Cease-fire now!”

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez traveled to Michigan on Friday to meet with elected officials in the Detroit-area. However, initial plans were for her to meet with 10 to 15 Muslim and Arab American leaders after her staff approached them to discuss growing discontent in their community, Ayoub said.

“We are aware that she is meeting with different individuals,” Ayoub said. “It’s not a group setting … It’s upsetting that they thought they had the right to go ahead and schedule this. They don’t speak on behalf of the community.”

Several local leaders invited to meet with Rodriguez, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, declined to do so after pushback from the community.

“Our immediate demand is crystal clear: the Biden Administration must call for a permanent ceasefire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars,” Hammoud, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Dearborn residents have tirelessly protested and organized in demand of a ceasefire. As their mayor, I follow their lead.”

Hammoud added: “I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government.

Lexis Zeidan, a Palestinian-American and Dearborn resident said she was also approached by the campaign but she rejected the invite as well.

“I strongly believe that the community has mobilized effectively and strategically over the last four months that we should not be making any decisions or having any conversations without bringing our community into the fold,” said Zeidan.

Wayne County, home to Detroit and Dearborn, has the largest rate of Arab inhabitants of any other county in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And Michigan, a state that Biden narrowly won against Trump in 2020 and is critical in the coming election, has the largest Arab population of any battleground state.

Amid reports that Vice President Kamala Harris is privately pushing Biden that he needs to be more sympathetic towards Palestinians, multiple people also tell ABC News that Harris’s team reached out for a February meeting in D.C.

Huwaida Arraf, a civil rights attorney, says a senior adviser reached out to her from Harris’ team but Arraf immediately declined.

“We have been asking the administration to stop fueling funding enabling this genocide, and we have been stonewalled,” said Arraf. “And now because we’re getting close to the elections. And Biden isn’t doing so well in overall polls. Now they want to talk to us.”

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leaders of the community told ABC News the outreach is too little too late and that the only thing that will appease them is a ceasefire.

“Our position since day one has been clear: without a ceasefire on the table or call for a ceasefire, then we don’t see a purpose of meeting,” said Ayoub.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration announced a pause on applications for liquified natural gas export terminals on Friday to consider their impact on climate change, a major step coming from the world’s largest exporter of natural gas.

The Department of Energy will be launching a review to determine how to factor in the impact of climate change in whether to approve new natural gas export facilities but will not halt current natural gas exports.

It would be the first time the federal government has considered blocking this kind of project because it could contribute to climate change.

Liquified natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas that has been cooled to make it easier to transport. In 2023, the U.S. became the largest LNG exporter in the world, partly due to the increase in domestic production and construction of new LNG export terminals, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In a statement announcing the news, President Joe Biden said the pause comes as part of his focus to do more on climate change.

“From Day One, my Administration has set the United States on an unprecedented course to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad – securing the largest climate investment in the history of the world, unlocking clean energy breakthroughs that will power a clean economy and create thousands of jobs, advancing environmental justice for all, and rallying world leaders to transition away from the fossil fuels that jeopardize our planet and our people,” Biden said in a statement.

“But more action is needed,” he continued.

There will be an exception, Biden said, for ” unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies.”

“During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment. This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” he added.

Climate advocacy groups and local activists are calling the announcement a major win after lobbying Biden to block new LNG export terminals, saying the U.S. should not build new fossil fuel infrastructure.

“LNG projects are enormous carbon bombs, and each one of them is dozens of coal-fired power plants,” Vice President of Evergreen Action Craig Segall told ABC News.

“So we’ve already made a commitment to the world at COP28 that we are moving away from fossil fuels. Biden’s already passed the biggest climate law in U.S. history,” he added. “Now, it’s really important for the U.S. not to double down on pushing fossil products to the rest of the world.”

The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group that represents the natural gas industry, said U.S. LNG exports helped stabilize global energy markets after Russia attacked Ukraine. It also said that this decision undermines Biden’s promise to help Europe move away from Russian gas.

“This is nothing more than a broken promise to U.S. allies, and it’s time for the administration to stop playing politics with global energy security,” API President Mike Sommers said in a statement this week.

The announcement does not stop current exports of natural gas but delays any decisions on whether to expand the country’s export capacity in the future until they develop a process to consider the impact on climate change.

Senior administration officials emphasized that it will not halt any exports of natural gas to Europe or other allies.

“Anyone who tells you that a project that is currently being proposed is for the European energy crisis that we saw a couple of years ago is selling you a red herring because the end of the day these projects are not even going to be online until the 2030s,” Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told ABC News.

Biden faced intense criticism from climate advocates last year for approving the Willow Project to drill oil in Alaska amid a social media campaign for him to block it. The administration argued it didn’t have the legal authority to block the project but took steps to reduce emissions and protect other areas in the region.

Climate advocacy groups say they plan to highlight Biden’s record on climate change going into the 2024 presidential election, especially if former President Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee.

Segall said Friday’s announcement shows the administration is taking the calls from climate activists seriously.

“I think it’s a winner. We saw the youth climate movement — and those votes are so important to this election — be really clear,” he said. “They want to see a pivot on fossil fuel extraction.”

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