Trump and intelligence chiefs play down Signal group chat leak
SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump and his intelligence chiefs have played down a security breach that saw a journalist invited into a Signal group chat where he reported seeing national security officials plan airstrikes in Yemen.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe denied at a Senate hearing that any classified information was shared in the message chain. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also faced scrutiny for the messages, though he did not testify.
Democrats on the panel rebuked the cabinet members as “incompetent” with national security.
Over at the White House, Trump stood by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who was at the center of the leak.
The revelation has sent shockwaves through Washington, prompting a lawsuit and questions about why high-ranking officials discussed such sensitive matters on a potentially vulnerable civilian app.
Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the 18-member group, apparently by accident, and reported that he initially thought it was a hoax.
But he said he realized the messages were authentic once the planned raid was carried out in Yemen.
At least 53 people were killed in the 15 March airstrikes, which US officials said targeted Iran-aligned Houthi rebels who have threatened maritime trade and Israel.
The American raids have continued since then, including early on Tuesday morning.
In addition to Ratcliffe and Gabbard, the Signal group chat included Vice-President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The controversy overshadowed Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which was originally meant to focus on drug cartels and people trafficking.
During the at-times combative session, Ratcliffe said he was not aware of any specific operational information on weapons, targets or timings discussed in the chat, as Goldberg had reported.
Asked if he believed the leak was a huge mistake, Ratcliffe said: “No.”
Gabbard repeatedly said “no classified information” was divulged and maintained there was a difference between “inadvertent release” and “malicious leaks” of information.
Both pointed to Hegseth as being the authority on whether the information was classified. Goldberg reported that much of the most sensitive information shared in the chat came from the account under Hegseth’s name.
“The Secretary of Defense is the original classification authority for DoD in deciding what would be classified information,” Ratcliffe said.
Senate Democrats assailed the Gabbard and Ratcliffe.
Colorado’s Michael Bennet accused those involved in the chat of sloppiness, incompetence and disrespect for US intelligence agencies.
Georgia’s Jon Ossoff described the episode — which Washington has dubbed Signalgate — as an “embarrassment”.
“This is utterly unprofessional. There’s been no apology,” Ossoff said. “There has been no recognition of the gravity of this error.”
Republicans on the panel were far more muted in their misgivings.
“We dodged a bullet,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker, who leads the the Senate’s armed services committee, later told reporters that lawmakers will investigate the Signal chat leak.
Wicker told reporters that he wants the investigation to be bipartisan and for the committee to have full access to the group chat’s transcript.
“We need to find out if it’s completely factual, and then make recommendations,” he told the NewsNation network. “But I expect we’ll have the co-operation of the administration.”
Republican Jim Risch of Idaho, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said that he expects the matter to be investigated.
“This is a matter that’s going to be investigated, obviously, we’re going to know a lot more about it as the facts role out,” he said, quoted by The Hill newspaper.
Trump and his White House team cast the controversy as a “co-ordinated effort” to distract from the president’s accomplishments.
