“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched,” Hegseth reportedly continued, before adding “we are currently clean on OPSEC [operational security]” and “Godspeed to our Warriors.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard vowed during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday that there was “no classified material” in the messages.
“My answer yesterday was based on my recollection, or the lack thereof on the details that were posted there. What was shared today reflects the fact that I was not directly involved with that part of the signal chat and replied at the end, reflecting the effects, the very brief effects that the national security advisor had shared,” Gabbard said Wednesday when asked about the matter.
“So it’s your testimony that less than two weeks ago, you were on a Signal chat that had all of this information about F-18s and MQ-9 Reapers and targets on strike. And you, in that two-week period, simply forgot that that was there. That’s your testimony?” Ranking Member Jim Himes, D-Conn., asked her.
“My testimony is I did not recall the exact details of what was included there,” Gabbard said.
“That was not your testimony,” Himes responded. “Your testimony was that you were not aware of anything related to weapons, packages, targets and timing.”
“As the testimony yesterday continued on, there were further questions, related to that, where I acknowledged that there was conversation about weapons,” Gabbard said. “And, I don’t remember the exact wording that I used, but I did not recall the specific details that were included.”
At one point in Wednesday’s Senate hearing, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said there were “operational details” in the Signal messages.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., also joined other Congressional Democrats calling for the resignation of Secretary of State Pete Hegseth over the leak.
“There can be no fixes. There can be no corrections until there is accountability. And I’m calling on the administration to move forward with accountability,” Crow said.
Discussion about this post