Far too often, politicians allow people in the hot seat to ramble on misdirecting away from the question asked.
For once, that did not happen when Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) got General Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in front of him.
When they tried to ramble, Cotton brought them right back and demanded they answer the questions asked.
Get Back on Point
Senators have only a few minutes to get answers during these hearings.
Sadly, the sitting party generally does nothing but gush compliments and apologize for the inconvenience.
When the opposing party gets its turn, far too many times, the witness is able to stall and deflect.
Cotton did not allow that to happen.
Cotton hit Austin first, asking him to answer whether Biden had been advised to leave a small troop presence in Afghanistan.
When Austin gave his answer, he tried to fluff Biden with irrelevant comments.
Austin started to answer, “Senator Cotton, I believe that – first of all, I know the president to be an honest and forthright man, and secondly –”
Cotton immediately slammed on the brakes, stating, “It’s a simple question, Secretary Austin.
“He said no senior military leader advised him to leave small troop presence behind. Is that true or not? Did these officers’ and Gen. Milley’s recommendations get to the president personally?”
Cotton did the same thing to General Milley when he tried to give long-winded answers to limit the damage being done to Biden.
Even so, Milley refused to directly give up the information he gave to Biden, although he did concede to his assessment, which was taken to be the advice that he provided to Biden.
When it was clear Milley’s advice had been ignored, Cotton asked Milley why he did not resign.
Milley stated, “Senator, as a senior military officer, resigning is a really serious thing. It’s a political act if I’m resigning in protest.
“The president doesn’t have to agree with that advice. He doesn’t have to make those decisions just because we’re generals.
“And it would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken.”
You can watch the full exchange in the video below…
Source: Daily Caller
