Democrats grill Trump officials over potential leak of classified materials
WASHINGTON − Democratic senators grilled top Trump administration officials Tuesday, amid fallout from a report that secret plans for U.S. airstrikes were discussed in a group chat on a publicly available encrypted messaging platform Signal.
“Putting aside that classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, "it’s also just mind-boggling to me that all these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered to even check – security hygiene 101 – who are all the names? Who are they?
"Well," he added, "it apparently included a journalist."
Editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg reported Monday that he had been added accidentally to the chat, titled "Houthi PC small group," ahead of a U.S. attack on Iran-backed Houthi sites in Yemen on March 15.
In an already scheduled hearing set to discuss worldwide threats, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee targeted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, two of the reported members of the Signal group chat.
“If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer, and they had this kind of behavior, they would be fired,” Warner said. “I think this is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information, that this is not a one-off or a first-time error.”
President Donald Trump was charged with mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House when his first term concluded. Those charges were dropped following the start of his second term.
Will there be an investigation?
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the incident “obviously reckless” and “obviously dangerous." He also called for an investigation and the resignation of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who sat right of Gabbard on Tuesday's panel of witnesses and flew mostly under Democrats' radar by comparison, said he was briefed on the matter but had no update to share yet.
Asked to confirm that her inclusion in the Signal chat, Gabbard said repeatedly, "I’m not going to get into the specifics."
"Because," she added, "this is currently under review by the National Security Council."
Democrats push for release of texts
The Atlantic reported that Hegseth had shared via Signal detailed logistics, including the timing of the airstrikes and specific weapon systems being used.
Ratcliffe and Gabbard said throughout the hearing they were unaware of any classified material in the message thread.
"If there was no classified material share it with the committee. You can't have it both ways," said Warner, one of several Democratic senators who called for the texts to be released. "These are important jobs. This is our national security."