Slotkin Asks DoD Nom Point Blank: Will You Participate In The Investigation Into Leaked Group Chat?

2 days ago

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) spoke about an investigation into the leaked Signal group chat involving top Trump cabinet members.

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Transcript

00:04Thanks for being here.

00:05Congratulations.

00:06I remember coming in front of this panel under Chairman Levin to do a panel confirmation

00:14hearing, and I remember being the target of that, and everyone else just sat there very

00:19quietly and got no questions.

00:21And so for those of you having different experiences today, congratulations.

00:24I think you were in junior high.

00:28I was not in junior high, but I will say I got the full McCain treatment and remember

00:35it to this day.

00:36So you should be proud and happy that none of you, I think, have received the McCain

00:40treatment.

00:41A couple of questions for Dr. Mank.

00:48In Michigan, we have Selfridge Air Force Base, the only Air National Guard controlled base

00:53in the country, and we've discussed this, and any good Michigander will constantly bring

00:59up our interest in a replacement fighter mission for our A-10s, which are phasing out in FY27.

01:07I know that in order to have a better shot of having a fighter mission, we need more

01:12airframes, and I just want you to know that there's lots of us on this committee for various

01:16reasons who want the Air Force to have more airplanes.

01:21But will you please commit to working with us on a replacement mission, a fighter mission,

01:28not a refueler, we've got those coming, but a fighter mission for Selfridge Air Force

01:33Base?

01:34Senator, I commit to work with the committee both on making sure we have the right number

01:39of platforms and where those platforms are bedded down.

01:43But the right number is more, right?

01:45Right number.

01:46I mean, no matter what it is, it's more.

01:47Okay, good.

01:48Good.

01:49All right.

01:50Thank you, Senator.

01:52I look forward to working with you and love to invite you to Selfridge and have you come

01:53formally and check out what we have going on.

01:55It's an amazing base.

01:56So...

01:57Happy to do so, Senator.

01:58Great.

01:59Great.

02:00Switching gears.

02:01Mr. Duffy, I know you've been sitting in the Secretary of Defense's front office, and

02:05I believe acting as his Deputy Chief of Staff, so really at his right hand.

02:13And you're about to become the head of acquisition for the entire Department of Defense.

02:18That's a huge job, hugely sensitive job.

02:21We don't want other countries knowing what we're acquiring so they can defeat it.

02:27The leadership of this committee has sent a very standard letter to the Department of

02:32Defense Acting Inspector General asking for an investigation of what has happened with

02:39potentially classified information being on the signal chat.

02:44What do you think of this investigation?

02:46Will you commit to participating since you were right there in the right hand of Secretary

02:51Hegseth during this moment?

02:53Senator, I was not a part of the chat.

02:56That's a question.

02:58I defer to others on the investigation, and I will continue, as I have in the past, always

03:04to communicate through approved channels with sensitive information.

03:07But if the Acting Inspector General came to you as someone who's been so closely working

03:12in the front office of the Secretary, you would participate in such an investigation?

03:17I would participate.

03:19I would follow department procedure if that included the investigation.

03:22Okay.

03:23And are you aware of any other signal communications that has gone on from the front office of

03:30the Secretary of Defense, either him or his senior staff, that have involved operationally

03:37information, information about specific weapons platforms, the timing of operations, or anything

03:43having to do with senior leader decision making?

03:46Are you aware of any other signal chains that you, your staff, or your boss have been on

03:51in the past 90 days?

03:53I'm not aware of signal chats that contain sensitive information, no.

03:57Okay.

03:58So you can confirm with a clear yes or no you have not been on any signal chains that

04:03provide operationally sensitive or classified information?

04:07No I have not.

04:08Okay, great.

04:09That makes me feel good.

04:13We all know that our main competitor in the acquisition space is China, that they have

04:19invested in technology that is purposely meant to undercut our advantages in a fight.

04:25So if you can sum up in a bumper sticker what you're going to focus on in the acquisition

04:29world in order to shred that gap that we have with them, what is that bumper sticker?

04:38Thank you for the question, Senator.

04:39I think two really critical metrics when it comes to measuring the success of our acquisition

04:45system, one is speed and second is capacity.

04:48I think nobody beats us on performance and capability, but we need to accelerate speed

04:53and we need to manage cost.

04:56And so I think the best incentive, because our industrial base is absolutely critical

05:01to providing this.

05:02This is something that they do best.

05:06It's one of our most greatest national assets is our economic power and our innovation within

05:14our industrial base.

05:15And so I think if confirmed in this job it would be a priority for me to convene leaders

05:21of industry to understand what are the barriers that get in the way of business wanting to

05:25do business with the defense industrial base and ensuring that we can benefit from the

05:30incentives that competition provides.

05:33The more interest we have in the defense industrial base, the more innovation we'll get and I

05:38think the more there will be effective incentives to provide capability at cost and at speed.

05:49Thank you, Chairman.

Slotkin Asks DoD Nom Point Blank: Will You Participate In The Investigation Into Leaked Group Chat?

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