Retired three-star admiral and Democratic congressman Joe Sestak told MSNBC's Jose Diaz-Balart that the U.S. intelligence community was not wrong about ISIL, but that the Obama administration was "slow" to address the threat.
When asked how the intelligence community "got it so wrong" on ISIL, Sestak took issue with President Obama's claim that the intelligence community "underestimated" the threat of ISIL:
"I don't think they did," Sestak said.
"If you remember back in January and February, the head, the General, the Defense Intelligence Agency actually testified before the House and Senate that in 2014, ISIS would take over large swaths of territory.
"In fact, at the time he had testified, they had already seized Ramadi and Fallujah, 35 miles from Baghdad. I think it was pretty obvious from his testimony that they had the capability. Even Jim Clapper said that."
Contrary to Obama's controversial assertion, Sestak said it was, in fact, the Obama administration that failed to respond properly.
"I think it was slow on the part of the entire administration to assess what they had to do in order address this threat," Sestak said.