From PBS NewsHour.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declined to answer repeated questions from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on whether she was on the unauthorized group text where senior Trump officials discussed secret war plans in a Signal app group chat and accidentally included a journalist.
She declined to answer, saying the incident is under review. The text chain, in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen, reportedly included Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
During Warner’s questioning, Ratcliffe confirmed that he was on the group chat.
“If this was a rank and file intelligence officer, who did this kind of careless behavior, what would you do with them?” Warner asked.
Gabbard said no classified material was shared in the chat.
"Ma’am if there’s no classified materials, share. And then if there’s no classified materials, then answer that — you can’t even answer the question, whether you’re on the chat," Warner said.
Also included in Tuesday’s hearing was FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA Director Timothy Haugh and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse. In the time since the group chat was reported, national security experts and lawmakers have expressed concern about the major lapse in security.
When asked by reporters about the communications around the plans late Monday, Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans.”
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