PoliticsDonald Trump Officials Caught 'Lying' Under Oath About War Plans Discussed in Leaked Group Chat
Tulsi Gabbard gave testimony about the leaked group chat she was in.
Texts obtained by The Atlantic have uncovered discrepancies in the testimonies of Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe over plans to go to war with Yemen.
The texts from a group chat suggest that both Gabbard and Ratcliffe may have been purposely misleading in their statements to senators while under oath.
A reporter from 'The Atlantic' was accidentally added to a government group chat.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and Ratcliffe were asked about the classified nature of the information discussed in the group chat.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) pressed the trio on the specifics of the conversations, asking, "In the Signal chain that we have been talking about, was there any mention of a target in Yemen?"
Gabbard claimed she couldn't recall mentioning any specific targets.
She said, "I believe there was discussion around targets in general."
FBI director Kash Patel also testified to Congress.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, March 25, Warner noted that the chat "was not only sloppy, not only violated all procedures, but if this information had gotten out, American lives could have been lost."
"I'm not going to get into the specifics," Gabbard responded.
"So you refuse to acknowledge whether you were on this group chat?" Warner pressed. "Is it because it's all classified? Because this is currently under review by the National Security because it's all classified."
"If it's not classified, share the text now," the senator demanded, but Gabbard refused to answer.
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The newly appointed Director of National Intelligence also claimed she couldn't remember any "specific weapon" or weapons system being named.
The texts themselves contradict the testimony, with one message bringing up "F-18s" and a "strike drones" being used.
Tulsi Gabbard is Donald Trump's new Director of National Intelligence.
Turning to Ratcliffe, Warner repeated his questions.
"So my communications, to be clear, in a Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information," the CIA director said.
"Well, we will make that determination because if it's not classified, share the text with the committee," Warner replied.
The senator's request was met with silence from both.
"Did you contact the defense secretary or others after this specific military planning was put out and say, hey, we should be doing this in a SCIF?" Warner asked Gabbard.
"There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal," the DNI said.
"So then, if there was no classified material, share it with the committee," Warner told Gabbard, who remained silent. "You can't have it both ways."
Several Donald Trump staffers were involved in the leaked group chat.
The bombshell report by Jeffrey Goldberg detailed discussions within the Principals Committee about launching strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen through a Signal text chain.
The strikes were reportedly carried out shortly after the discussions took place.
