‘We’re fortunate he didn’t include the Houthis in the chat,’ top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, said. Roger Wicker, the GOP committee chairman, has weighed in as well.
Tense back-and-forth over Pete Hegseth’s sobriety during House hearing
A Democratic representative grills Intel heads on whether Pete Hegseth was drinking when information including war plans was leaked to a journalist.
WASHINGTON — The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee are requesting an expedited investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leak of information about an imminent U.S. attack on Houthi militants in Yemen.
The bi-partisan request for an independent investigation intensifies pressure on Hegseth and the Pentagon to explain why he and other senior Trump administration officials engaged in a chat on the commercial encrypted messaging app Signal about an imminent attack. It is significant because it includes scrutiny from a high-level Republican in Congress.
The blunder was revealed because National Security Advisor Mike Waltz inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic.
Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, said the Pentagon Inspector General will be asked to examine why sensitive information about military operations was discussed outside secure government communication channels. The Pentagon’s internal watchdog would also determine how Goldberg was included in the chat, and what the consequences of the unauthorized release, Reed said.
“We’re fortunate he didn’t include the Houthis in the chat,” Reed said in an interview. “This demonstrates a gross lack of judgment.”
Depending on the results of the investigation, the Armed Services Committee could hold a hearing on the matter, Reed said.
The Republican Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday, said the story posted by The Atlantic appears to show sensitive information that he would have classified, or kept secret. His call for a probe marks unusual pushback from a Republican against the Trump administration.
The Atlantic reported that Hegseth divulged the launch time for warplanes hours before they took off for their attack.
Hegseth dismissed the senators’ concerns, telling reporters traveling with him in Hawaii that “nobody’s texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Trump, speaking to reporters in Washington, said Hegseth’s disclosures don’t “bother me.”
Reed, however, said the incident proved Hegseth is unfit to lead the Pentagon.
“He lacks the temperament, the insight and the experience to be the secretary of Defense,” Reed said.