US intel chiefs face Senate grilling over Yemen chat breach

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00Questions swirled on Tuesday in Washington, after senior intelligence officials were exposed

00:05planning airstrikes on Yemen over the messaging app Signal.

00:10This after a journalist from The Atlantic found himself in a group chat added by the

00:14President's National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.

00:17For the President, it can be chalked down to experience.

00:21Michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man.

00:25But for Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate National Security Committee and a Democrat,

00:29it's a case of quote, sloppy, careless, incompetent behaviour towards classified information.

00:36Putting aside for a moment that classified information should never be discussed over

00:42an unclassified system, it's also just mind boggling to me that all these senior folks

00:49were on this line and nobody bothered to even check security hygiene 101.

00:55Who are all the names?

00:56Who are they?

00:57According to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth shared exact targets,

01:02timings and weapons on the message thread.

01:05CIA Chief John Ratcliffe was grilled at a Senate security hearing and tried desperately

01:10to minimise the breach.

01:12They're talking about the timing of US airstrikes, correct?

01:17Yes, yes.

01:19And therefore the timing of sending US air crews into hostile airspace, correct?

01:24Yes.

01:26And therefore the time period during which enemy air defences could target US air crews

01:31flying in enemy airspace, correct?

01:33I don't know that.

01:34You do know that?

01:36National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard joined him in denying that classified information

01:41was shared on the thread.

Category

Transcript

Recommended