Andrea Mitchell sharply contradicted State Department spokesperson Marie Harf after Harf tried to claim that Congress was not briefed prior to the raid on Osama Bin Laden.
While Harf continued to insist that Congress was not briefed, Mitchell told her, "It was briefed to Senate leaders. I know this from Dianne Feinstein, I know this from Mike Rogers."
When questioning Harf about the Bergdahl controversy on her show, Mitchell had noted that Congress had been briefed for eleven months prior to the Bin Laden raid.
"It was not, actually," Harf interrupted, "it was not. The Bin Laden raid was the only other time we haven’t briefed Congress—"
Mitchell stopped her to say that, while officials had initially claimed that, "Mike Morrell says that it was completely briefed. He was acting CIA director."
"Well I was the CIA spokesperson then, if you remember," Harf countered, "And I think what we're talking about with Bergdahl is somewhat the same as Bin Laden, the architecture of what this might look like, including in the Bergdahl case, was briefed to Congress…"
Mitchell calmly continued to cite her sources to the contrary, arguing that Congress knew more than merely the "architecture": "On Sunday afternoon of Bin Laden, before it was announced, I was standing next to a Senate chair who said ‘I have to go’, and later the next day said to me, ‘I'm so sorry, but I was being told about the raid and I didn't want to risk standing next to reporters like yourself.’ It was briefed to Senate leaders. I know this from Dianne Feinstein, I know this from Mike Rogers."
After laughing in response, Harf avoided a direct answer and said, "Well we can recreate history on Bin Laden, but when it comes to Bergdahl, which is, I think, what’s most important today, the architecture of this entire swap had been briefed and quite frankly was discussed publicly."
Mitchell then pressed Harf for the reason Congress had not been told, observing that over the course of several years, "the leaders, in a bipartisan way, said ‘don't do it, don’t trade these five.' So the administration knew that they would be getting objections in advance, is that why they didn't tell them?"