Intelligence chiefs deny discussing war plans on Signal during House hearing

The controversy over leaked messages on the Signal platform continues to rage. On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe defended their use of the Signal app to discuss airstrikes in Yemenc laiming that "no classified information was leaked," despite accusations from Democratic lawmakers who called the incident reckless and possibly illegal.

The hearing before the House Intelligence Committee came on the second day of testimony by officials on global threats, just hours after The Atlantic published a full transcript of the group chat that revealed sensitive details shared by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Democrats used the session to condemn the use of Signal, an encrypted but publicly accessible messaging platform, where arrangements to bomb the Houthis were discussed in the presence of The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.

"Now we come to learn that people in the most dangerous and sensitive jobs on the planet put extremely specific pre-decisional discussions about a military attack on Signal, which could be intercepted by the Russians and the Chinese,” the committee's top Democrat, Jim Himes, said.

“Everyone here knows that the Russians or the Chinese could have gotten all of that information, and they could have passed it on to the Houthis, who easily could have repositioned weapons and altered their plans to knock down planes or sink ships (…) I think that it’s by the awesome grace of God that we are not mourning dead pilots right now.”

The transcript released by The Atlantic showed that Hegseth shared with the group the timing of the airstrikes and the weapons to be used, contradicting previous claims by Gabbard at a Senate hearing the day before, where she had said the chat contained no details about the timing of the strikes, the targets or the weapons used.

When confronted, Gabbard explained, “My answer yesterday was based on my recollection, or the lack thereof, on the details that were posted there,” she was “not directly involved with that part of the Signal chat.”

She also described the incident as “a policy discussion" to which Goldberg "was inadvertently added.”

“The conversation was candid and sensitive, but as the president [and] national security adviser stated, no classified information was shared. There were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared,” she insisted.

Ratcliffe, for his part, defended the use of Signal as “an appropriate channel to communicate sensitive information” and added: "I didn’t transfer any classified information. And at the end of the day, what is most important is that the mission was a remarkable success,"  the CIA director said.

Democrats accuse leak of having classified material

Democrats rejected these defenses. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi presented printed messages from the chat, in which Hegseth shared exact details of the attacks.

“This is classified information. It’s a weapon system as well as sequence of strikes, as well as details about the operations,” Krishnamoorthi said. “This text message is clearly classified information. Secretary Hegseth has disclosed military plans as well as classified information. He needs to resign immediately.”

Endorsements toward the Administration

In contrast, Republicans backed the officials. "The Democrats are obviously making the assertions that what was in the Signal chat was classified, and claiming that Secretary Hegseth put this war plan out to the world, which he clearly did not," said Florida Republican Greg Steube.

In addition, Ratcliffe and Gabbard reiterated that no details such as target names or specific locations were disclosed.

For his part, Senator Lindsey Graham, also a Republican, expressed support for the administration: "I think President Trump has handled this matter well. Further, I believe that all the participants in the chat were under the impression they were using an appropriate and secure form of communication. This will also fall into the category of ‘lessons learned’.”

Tensions and cross accusations

The hearing escalated in tension when Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez asked Gabbard and Ratcliffe if they knew whether Hegseth, who pledged not to consume alcohol during his confirmation following reports of excesses, may have been under the influence while using the chat room.

"I think that’s an offensive line of questioning. The answer is no,” Ratcliffe replied, visibly upset.

Trump on Signal chat content: "It's not important"

In the midst of all the scandal after the publication of the messages, President Donald Trump also opted to digress and ensure that the information published in The Atlantic and coming from that chat is not important.

In addition, Vice President Vance also posted a message on networks to downplay the importance of the matter and the leaked information. He claimed that Goldberg "oversold" his story and exaggerated it to sell it better.

The incident has given Democrats, weakened after Republican victories in the November elections, an opportunity to portray the Trump administration as reckless.

While some Republican senators have vowed to demand an internal investigation, others are reaffirming their support for the national security team.

The controversy remains open, with Democrats insisting that the leak put lives and national security at risk, and intelligence chiefs maintaining that no laws were broken.