An investigation is underway concerning the deaths of four Green Berets, and it's "unfortunate" that the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump's conversation with one of their widows has "become such a political issue," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said Friday.
"An investigation is underway," the New Hampshire Democrat told CNN's "New Day" program. "We need to get answers from that. It's unfortunate that the whole incident around talking to the families who have lost their soldiers, their loved ones and this ambush has become such a political issue."
Instead of arguing, "what we need to do is to recognize the selfless sacrifice of our soldiers, when they've been lost, we need to try and help the families' grief," Shaheen added. "We need to give them the privacy they deserve when they're trying to grieve and it's very disappointing that this is become a political issue. It should not be a political issue when our lost soldiers are concerned."
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, sparked controversy and a war of words with Trump this week after she reported she heard Trump's phone call to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of slain Green Beret Sgt. La David Johnson, and that he'd told the 24-year-old widow that her husband "knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens it hurts anyway."
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it may take a subpoena to get information concerning the deaths of Johnson, of Miami, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia, noted Shaheen.
Over the past two weeks, though, information had not come out, and Shaheen, a member of the Armed Services Committee, commented that from her perspective, she was waiting for more information from the investigation into the deaths.
"I think now we know that we need to provide some more urgency on that, that we need to get answers and we need to get them as soon as possible so that the public knows what happened so that the families who have lost their soldiers in that ambush know what's happened," said Shaheen.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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