'I Did Not Transmit Classified Information': John Ratcliffe Defends Himself After Shock Signal Leak

2 days ago

At today's House Intel Committee hearing, CIA Director John Ratcliffe defended himself after the shocking Signal leak.

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Transcript

00:00as the Distinguished Vice Chairman, General Kelly.

00:03Yeah, I'd now, for the first 30 seconds, Mr. Ratcliffe or Director Ratcliffe,

00:09formerly known as Texas from this Mississippi guy, I'd like to give you 30 seconds if you have

00:15anything to respond to what Ms. Gabbard just, Director Gabbard, I'm sorry, just said.

00:24Well, Mississippi, it's good to see you again and I appreciate the opportunity. You know,

00:29there's so much talk about this Atlantic article and about things that were said and that could

00:36have happened instead of a focus on what did happen. So my responsibility as CIA Director,

00:41one of its responsibilities is to kill terrorists. And that's exactly what I did along with

00:48President Trump's excellent national security team. That's what we should be focused on.

00:54With regard to that article, I also would appreciate the opportunity

00:59to relay the fact that yesterday I spent four hours answering questions from senators as a

01:04result of that article that were intimating that I transmitted classified information because there

01:10were hidden messages. Those messages were revealed today and revealed that I did not transmit

01:16classified information and that the reporter, who I don't know, I think intentionally intended it to

01:22indicate that. That reporter also indicated that I had released the name of an undercover CIA

01:30operative in that signal chat. In fact, I had released the name of my chief of staff who is not

01:36operating undercover. That was deliberately false and misleading and I appreciate the opportunity

01:44to reflect that my answers haven't changed. I used an appropriate channel to communicate

01:49sensitive information. It was permissible to do so. I didn't transfer any classified information.

01:57And at the end of the day, what is most important is that the mission was a remarkable success is

02:04what everyone should be focused on here because that's what did happen, not what possibly could

02:10have happened. Thank you, Director Ratcliffe. Director Patel, thank you for the great job

02:18that you've done. So first of all, your coordination and trying to comply with the

02:24letter that was sent last year and the year before asking for the baseball shooting of which

02:31what I got was basically what happened on the field and I was there so I don't need to know

02:35that, although no one from the FBI ever talked to me about what happened. They talked to people who

02:40were not there, but I appreciate your commitment to getting us the full unredacted report or the

02:47redactions or to protect innocent people who were not part of the process, not the people who

02:53made decisions to classify that as suicide by cop as opposed to an assassination attempt of many

03:00members of Congress of which I was one. Thank you for your commitment, Director Patel, because I

03:05know that you will give us what we have asked for so that we can put this to rest, Mr. Winstrup,

03:11myself, and several others. Can I get your commitment to do that, Director Patel? In fact,

03:16I just got an update, Mr. Vice Chairman, from my team. You'll have all of those materials to

03:20you and your committee by the close of business today or at the latest tomorrow morning.

03:26And just really quickly, Director Ratcliffe, and I don't want to go over time. I think it's so

03:31important for everybody to have their time. Can you tell me the impact that DOJ has had

03:37in causing you to fire people you shouldn't have fired or release people who are

03:41instruments of national security no longer there? Tell me if you've had any impact,

03:46specifically, that DOJ has caused you to lose someone who was necessary for national security.

03:52Given the fact that as of this date, no one from DOJ has been on the CIA campus,

03:59and I've had no direct communication with DOJ other than conversations with

04:03Elon Musk at Cabinet meetings, I would say the impact is zero.

04:08Director Patel?

04:11I'm in a similar situation. We do work with DOJ on government efficiencies,

04:16but I have not seen any negative impacts at the FBI.

04:20Thank you very much. And Director Gabbard, it's good to see you again, too. You know,

04:25I think we were freshmen together, you and I and Director Ratcliffe, and I'm here and you guys are

04:30there. Have you seen any impact across the whole IC that DOJ has caused things that you can't

04:37respond to?

04:38Thank you, Congressman. It's great to see you all again here. The answer is no.

04:44Similar with Director Ratcliffe, DOJ has not been at ODNI. The President understands the essential

04:53national security mission that we have, and we are going through our own internal assessments to

05:00ensure we're achieving the effects in an efficient way that is responsible to the American taxpayer.

05:05Yield back, Mr. Chairman.

'I Did Not Transmit Classified Information': John Ratcliffe Defends Himself After Shock Signal Leak

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