Cotton accuses Pentagon of 'conscious decision' to withhold info from Congress to influence vote

Sen. Tom Cotton, R.-Ark., reviews President Biden's call for an assault weapons ban following the Nashville school shooting on'Special Report.' Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Tuesday accused Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of withholding information from Congress about a military incident in Syria in order to avoid influencing a vote to end two congressional authorization for use of military force overseas. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Cotton confronted Austin about claims that the Biden administration failed to inform lawmakers of last week's Iranian-linked drone attack that killed one American and wounded five members of the U.S. military in Syria until more than 12 hours after it occurred. Cotton claimed the delay was a "conscious decision" to influence the Senate as it was voting on repealing the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) in Iraq. Cotton implied that because the Biden administration wants to revoke the AUMFs, it wanted to delay news that might give lawmakers a reason to maintain them.