McCain caught playing poker on phone in Syria hearing (VIDEO)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaks to the media before entering a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol building May 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. McCain slipped into Syria Monday on a secret visit to meet rebels — the highest-ranking US official to visit the country since its civil war broke out.
Sen. John McCain, a leading advocate of military action in Syria, was caught playing poker on his iPhone during a key Senate hearing on the issue Tuesday.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee spend more than three hours grilling Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other top administration officials about authorizing the president to use military force in the war-torn country.
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While McCain spoke up when it was his time to address administration officials, a Washington Post photo captured him trying his luck at poker in the meantime.
Shortly afterward, the Arizona Republican came clean on Twitter.
"Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!" he tweeted.
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He further explained his actions on CNN.
"As much as I like to always listen with rapt attention constantly (to) remarks of my colleagues over a three and a half period, occasionally I get a little bored and so I resorted," McCain told Wolf Blitzer. "But the worst thing about it is I lost thousands of dollars in this game."
He clarified he was gambling with "fake money."
On Wednesday, McCain said he will not back the Senate's draft resolution on the issue, saying it doesn't go far enough.