Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) got heated with CIA Director John Ratcliffe at a Tuesday congressional hearing where the senator demanded answers on how a journalist got into a Signal chat with administration officials discussing war plans.
“This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for them is entirely unacceptable! It’s an embarrassment! You need to do better!” Bennet said to Ratcliffe after the pair got into a fiery back and forth on the war plans leak.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was accidentally included in a Signal text message chain where officials discussed plans to attack Houthis in Yemen. The White House has claimed no classified information was discussed, something Bennet and others were not buying into on Tuesday.
“Did he create a hoax that allowed him to become part of this Signal thread?” Bennet asked Ratcliffe.
Before Ratfcliffe could answer, Bennet pressed him, saying, “Please answer the question. Don’t insult the intelligence of the American people. Did he invite himself to the Signal thread?”
“I don’t know how he was invited, but clear he was he was added,” Ratcliffe said.
As Bennet attempted to get clarification, he said, “Everybody in America knows that. Does the CIA director not know that?”
Ratcliffe said he’s seen “conflicting reports” on how Goldberg was added to the chain.
Check out the exchange
MICHAEL BENNET: You’re the CIA director, why didn’t you call out that he was present on the Signal thread?JOHN RATCLIFFE: I don’t know if you use Signal messaging app.BENNET: I do. Not for classified information. Not for targeting. Not for anything remote.RATCLIFFE: Neither do I, senator, neither do I.BENNET: Well, that’s what your testimony is today.RATCLIFFE: It absolutely is not, senator. Were you not listening at the beginning when I said I was using it as permitted?BENNET: I agree that’s your testimony. You asked me if I use it and I said not for targeting. Not for classified information.RATCLIFFE: And I said I don’t either.BENNET: I also know Jeff Goldberg. I don’t use it to communicate with him. But you thought it was appropriate. I think he is one of the more outstanding journalists in America but I’m shocked to find him on a thread that he is reading in the parking lot of a grocery store in Washington, D.C. And your testimony as the director of the CIA. Is thatit is totally appropriate. Is it appropriate that the president —RATCLIFFE: No, that is not what I said. When did I use the word appropriate?BENNET: Well, go ahead. Everybody in America — there’s nothing to see here is basically your testimony. This is just a normal day at the CIA where we
chat about this kind of stuff over Signal. In fact it is so normal that the last administration left it here for us. That is your testimony today.RATCLIFFE: That is your testimony, senator.BENNET: I heard you say it, we’ll let the American people decide.RATCLIFFE: You mischaracterized it. Will you give me a chance—BENNET: Is it appropriate, did you know the president’s Middle East advisor was in Moscow on this thread while you were, as director of the CIA, participating in this thread? Were you aware of that? Are you aware of that today?RATCLIFFE: I’m not aware of that today.BENNET: This sloppiness and incompetence and disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for them is entirely unacceptable. It’s an embarrassment. You need to do better! You need to do better.
Watch above via CSPAN.
More on the Trump Admin War Plan Leak:
- Trump Dismisses Bombshell War Plans Leak as a ‘Glitch,’ Goes to Bat for NSA Mike Waltz: He ‘Learned His Lesson’
- Wall Street Journal Calls Out JD Vance for Trying to ‘Block’ Trump’s Strikes on Houthis: ‘Mr. Trump Now Knows’
- Fox’s Peter Doocy Mocks Trump Admin Over Cabinet Group Chat: ‘Well, They Did Promise to Be the Most Transparent White House Ever’
- ‘That’s A Lie!’ Jeffrey Goldberg Smacks Down Hegseth Denial Over Blockbuster Leak
- Fox’s Lawrence Jones Makes Excuse for Sharing ‘Top Secret’ War Plans on Signal: ‘They All Use It’
- ‘Never Seen a Story Like This’: Bombshell Report On Trump’s Leaked War Plans Sends Shockwaves Through Washington