VIDEO: Ro Khanna Calls Trump’s Iran Strike “Unconstitutional” but Votes against Impeachment

A member of the Armed Services Committee, Khanna claims to not know that Israel won't acknowledge it has nuclear weapons. A Congressperson taking up the issue could cut off funding to imperial Israel.

Imperial Israel’s genocide has been enabled most recently by Trump’s bombing of Iran’s peaceful nuclear weapons program. That attack should have triggered impeachment by Congress, but didn’t.

I questioned Rep. Ro Khanna on Tuesday night at an event moderated by Zeteo’s Mehdi Hassan. Many thanks to Decensored News for video:

It’s shall we say remarkable that Khanna (a very sophisticated member of the House Armed Services Committee) would claim he didn’t know Israel — and the US government — won’t acknowledge Israel’s nuclear “power” — err, it’s nuclear WEAPONS. This is especially true since I actually asked him about this issue in an AMA last year and he ignored it as Decensored News notes in their write-up:

Ro Khanna Pressed on Israeli Nukes, Voting Against Trump Impeachment

This is critical because US law prohibits funding countries that are nuclear weapons proliferators. In 2020, Grant Smith of Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy wrote to members of Congress who have been critical of Israel: “I believe your coalition has far more influence on the matter of foreign aid than it may realize. In 2016 and 2017 we sued the administration(s) over violations of the Arms Export Control Act, but did not prevail for lack of standing. Your coalition does not have such issues.” Smith would later tell me: “But no member of Congress has taken up this issue — or even mentioned Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal.”

See my 2022 piece “The Ostrich Caucus: Why won't members of Congress just say it: Israel has nukes?” In writing that piece for the Capitol Hill Citizen, I emailed dozens of congressional staffers at 15 congressional offices including Khanna’s. None would acknowledge Israel’s nukes.

Khanna’s denials of knowledge on the issue are also particularly dubious since a US government classification bulletin — WNP-136 — forbids covered persons from making any comment on US government information or information in the public domain about Israel's nuclear weapons program. (See: “The 47-year-old nuclear elephant in the room” from the Center for Public Integrity.)

Notably, in April, Sen. Chris Van Hollen stated of Israel: “It's a nuclear power...”

After the event, I talked briefly with Khanna and he said he’d look at material on this. I emailed him Rev. Desmond Tutu’s last article: “Joe Biden should end the US pretence over Israel’s ‘secret’ nuclear weapons: The cover-up has to stop – and with it, the huge sums in aid for a country with oppressive policies towards Palestinians” and asked him to place it in the Congressional Record.

I’ve not received a reply.

Partisan Impeachments Only

Khanna’s response on impeachment was telling.

He is “pragmatic” on impeachment he says. This apparently means pounding the table about the Constitution to impeach Trump regarding Jan. 6 and such, see piece by Decensored News — but when it comes to waging war, he’s suddenly content to simply note it’s unconstitutional and stay away from impeachment.

He also talked about it in electoral terms (see transcript below), citing upcoming elections. So his loyalty it would seem is not to the Constitution which he is pledged to uphold, it’s to his political party.

And it’s notable that he minimizes the horrors of Biden’s actions, describing it as “strikes” against “Houthi ships in the Red Sea”.

Betty McCollum criticized Al Green’s impeachment move as procedurally poorly done. If so, she and others should do it correctly.

The current status of impeachment is pathetic. A Republican and a Democrat — Massie and Khanna — have worked together to call wars by both Biden and Trump “unconstitutional” — but they refuse to move on impeachment which could galvanized the bases of both parties sick of wars and revitalize the Constitution.

The two parties impeach each other’s president over anything except the perpetual war-making of the duopoly. This should end if Congress is to play a meaningful role in stopping the endless wars.

See prior pieces:

VIDEO: “State Dept Conspicuously Dodges Impeachment Question After Trump’s Iran Strikes”

Transcript:

Husseini: I'm very glad you're moving forward with Massie on War Powers Act, or trying to. However I'm disenchanted to learn, correct me if I'm wrong, that you voted against impeachment today. Al Green put forward a resolution trying to impeach Trump for his unconstitutional — as you call it — attack on Iran. If it's unconstitutional, aren't you obliged to move to impeachment? Constitutional scholars Bruce Fein and Ralph Nader would say that it's on you to do that. And, if I could, second, and you’ll like the second one Mehdi. You’ve been very articulate in talking about Israel's nukes.

Hassan: You're Sam Husseini right?

Husseini: I am Sam Husseini.

Hassan: Good. Thank you.

Husseini: You've been very articulate, Mehdi, to your credit, in talking about Israel's nukes. The US government — and you, Congressman, invoked the name of John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy attempted in the summer before his assassination

Hassan: Yes —

Husseini: — to stop Israel from getting nukes and there's a substantial case that Israel has used its capacity to have nukes to effectively bully and blackmail the US — "you need to bail us out of any crazy genocide" —

Hassan: What's your question Sam?

Husseini: Will you acknowledge Israel's nukes, and will you go to town on this? The US government still will not acknowledge [Israeli] nukes and most congressmen are getting their cues from the State Department and refusing to acknowledge that Israel has nuclear weapons. It's absurd.

Hassan: Let's take him backwards. Israel has nuclear —

Ro Khanna: I'll cut an answer for you, it’ll keep me honest. .. Obviously Israel has nuclear power and nukes — I didn't even think that's a controversial statement so —

Husseini: Nuclear power?

Audience member: Nuclear weapons!

Ro Khanna: Nuclear weapons. I mean obviously they have them. I don’t — I mean, they’ve admitted it.

Hassan: No they haven't admitted it.

Khanna — well they should admit it. I think that's a common sense statement. I don't think that's a very controversial statement. I'm surprised if other members of congress aren't saying it but it's an obvious one.

On impeachment. Look, I uh have deep admiration for president Obama. I think his action in Libya was unconstitutional. I think Biden's actions in striking, without coming to Congress, the Houthi ships in the Red Sea was unconstitutional. I spoke out about both of those issues. But impeachment in my view is a pragmatic decision, it's not simply a decision if someone commits an unconstitutional act. I don't think right now is the time for us to be able to build the anti-war coalition and to be able to build a majority in ‘26 and ‘28 for us to advance that but it's not that I don't think that his action was unconstitutional on Iran.

Thanks to Kymone Freeman, Kelley Lane, Chip Gibbons, Steve Shafarman and @Scionoobydoo.