The Trump administration's top intelligence officials testified in a hearing Tuesday after a security breach involving the mistaken leak of attack plans to a journalist.
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00:00You are the CIA director, okay?
00:10This has happened.
00:12We know it's happened.
00:15Did Jeff Goldberg somehow, was it a, did he create a hoax that allowed him to become part
00:22of this signal thread?
00:24Please answer the question.
00:26You don't, don't, don't insult the intelligence of the American people.
00:32Did he invite himself to the signal thread?
00:36I don't know how he was invited, but clearly he was added.
00:41Clearly it was, finish your sentence, please.
00:46Clearly he was added to the signal group.
00:50You don't know that the president's national security advisor invited him to join the signal
00:59thread?
01:00Everybody in America knows that.
01:01Does the CIA director not know that?
01:03I've seen conflicting reports about who added the reporter to the signal messaging group.
01:11You think it's perfectly appropriate that there was a reporter added, especially one
01:16that the, that the secretary of defense says is deceitful, highly discredited, a so-called
01:22journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes over and over again.
01:26Do you, is your testimony that it was appropriate that he was added to this signal thread?
01:32No, of course not.
01:33And why, why did you not call him, you are the, you answered the question.
01:41Let me ask you.
01:43When he was added to the thread, you're the CIA director.
01:47Why didn't you call out that his, he was present on the signal thread?
01:53I don't know if you use signal messaging app.
01:55I do.
01:56I do.
01:57Not for classified information, not for targeting, not for anything remote.
02:01Neither do I, Senator.
02:02Neither do I, Senator.
02:03Well, that's what your testimony is today.
02:05It absolutely is not, Senator.
02:07Were you not listening at the beginning when I said that I was using it as permitted and
02:13that it is permissible to use?
02:14I agree that's your testimony.
02:15Yeah.
02:16I agree that's your testimony.
02:17You asked me if I use it.
02:18And I said, not for targeting, not for classified information.
02:22And I said, I don't either.
02:23I also know Jeff Goldberg.
02:26I don't use it to, to, to communicate with him.
02:30But you thought it was appropriate.
02:32Well, are you going to give me a chance to?
02:34Is it appropriate?
02:35Did you know that the president's Middle East advisor was in Moscow on this thread
02:44while you were, as director of the CIA, participating in this, in this thread?
02:50Were you aware of that?
02:53Are you aware of that today?
02:55I'm not aware of that today.
02:56This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel
03:04who work for them is entirely unacceptable.
03:08It's an embarrassment.
03:09Senator, you need to do better.
03:14You need to do better.
03:17I'm being gaveled.
03:18I'll start with Ms. Gabbard.
03:22In this signal chain that we have been talking about, was there any mention of a target in
03:28Yemen?
03:29I don't remember mention of specific targets.
03:33Any generic target?
03:37I believe there was discussion around targets in general.
03:43Mr. Ratcliffe.
03:46I think that's consistent with my recollection.
03:48Again, I don't have access to that.
03:51The deliberation as to whether or not we should launch a strike on another country, would
03:58you consider that classified information, Ms. Gabbard?
04:04The information was not classified.
04:08This is, I'm not talking about this.
04:10I'm just talking about deliberation from principals as to whether or not we should launch a strike
04:19on another country.
04:20Would you consider that classified information?
04:22I'm not talking about what happened this week.
04:25There are other factors that would go into determining that classification.
04:29Mr. Ratcliffe, the deliberation between principals in our national security apparatus about whether
04:35or not to strike another country, would you consider that to be classified information?
04:39Predecisional strike deliberation should be conducted through classified channels.
04:46Thank you, Mr. Chairman.