(NewsNation) — The Senate Intelligence Committee held an open hearing Tuesday on “worldwide threats,” which quickly devolved into discussion about a bombshell account from the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.
Witnesses included National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel. Their testimonies largely centered around claims from Goldberg, who was added to a group chat for Trump administration officials.
In the chat on encrypted messaging app Signal, Goldberg said officials discussed plans for an attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Gabbard and Ratcliffe were reportedly included in the message thread, though only Ratcliffe confirmed his participation during the Tuesday hearing.
John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel address Signal group chat leak
Gabbard refused to confirm whether she was part of the leaked message thread, telling Warner she would not comment because the incident “is currently under review by the National Security Council.”
She later clarified there was “no classified” information included in the chat, echoing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s earlier claims.
During the hearing, Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, challenged Gabbard’s assertion that nothing sensitive was sent the chat. King asked Gabbard to “release the whole text stream so the public could have a view as to what transpired on this discussion.”
Ratcliffe told senators the CIA permits the use of Signal for work communications.
“One of the first things that happened as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA, as it is for most CIA officers,” Ratcliffe said.
He added that, to his knowledge, using the app is entirely “permissible and lawful.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Ratcliffe if there were discussions about weapons packages or timing in the group chat, as reported by Goldberg.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Ratcliffe said. Gabbard backed his response: “Same answer, and defer to the Department of Defense.”
Patel said he was briefed about the situation “late last night” and did not yet have an official update from the FBI. Warner requested more information by the end of the day.
Signal chat leak shows ‘sloppy, careless’ intelligence approach: Sen. Mark Warner
Committee chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., addressed the leak during his opening statement, calling the situation an example of the administration’s “sloppy, careless and incompetent” behavior surrounding classified information.
“Were these government devices? Were they personal devices? Had devices been collected to make sure there’s no malware?” Warner asked.
“There’s plenty of declassified information that shows that our adversaries, China and Russia, are trying to break in to encrypted systems like Signal.”
He added that if an intelligence or military officer participated in a similar chat, “they would be fired.”
Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Col., admonished Ratcliffe for his testimony, yelling that, “You need to do better. You need to do better.”
Multiple protesters removed from Senate hearing
As Patel prepared to answer his first question from committee chairman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a protester interrupted the hearing.
“The biggest threat to public security is Israel, and the whole world knows it,” the person said prior to ejection from the hearing. “Stop funding Israel, stop funding Israel, stop funding Israel.”
When prompted by Cotton to speak up if anyone else had grievances, another protester began yelling and was removed.
