Washington — The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, will return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. They are facing intense scrutiny over a group chat where high-ranking Trump officials discussed sensitive strategies related to striking targets in Yemen.
Gabbard and Ratcliffe are scheduled to appear together with FBI Director Kash Patel, National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse to respond to inquiries regarding the global security risks confronting the U.S. The hearing is set to commence at 10 a.m.
The disclosure that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was unintentionally included in a Signal group chat, where Trump officials talked about the details of a highly classified operation to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen, is expected to be a focal point of the hearing.
Both Gabbard and Ratcliffe, who participated in the chat, faced tough questions from Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday regarding the security lapse. They admitted to lawmakers that they were involved in the chat but contended that no classified information was exchanged via the commercial app.
Just before the hearing commenced, The Atlantic released parts of the message thread that had previously been withheld after Trump officials denied that the information was classified. The newly disclosed texts indicate that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed operational specifics, including the types of aircraft that would be deployed and the schedule for the strikes.
“This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes took off, and two hours and one minute before a window in which a primary target, the Houthi ‘Target Terrorist,’ was anticipated to be taken out by these American aircraft,” Goldberg stated. “Had this message been seen by someone hostile to American interests — or someone merely indiscreet with social media access — the Houthis could have had the opportunity to prepare for a surprise assault on their strongholds. The ramifications for U.S. pilots could have been disastrous.”
President Trump mentioned Tuesday that he would “look into” whether administration officials should continue using the encrypted messaging application for communication, but generally downplayed the seriousness of the leak.
This week’s House and Senate hearings coincide with the release of the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment. This year’s 31-page report outlines threats from foreign illicit drug actors, including Mexican drug cartels, Islamic extremists, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
