Trump's top intelligence officials claim no classified information was shared in group chat that included a journalist
President Donald Trump’s top intelligence officials claimed Tuesday that they did not share any classified materials in a group text about U.S. military plans that inadvertently included a journalist.
President Donald Trump’s top intelligence officials claimed Tuesday that they did not share any classified materials in a group text about U.S. military plans that inadvertently included a journalist.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe both downplayed the mishap at a contentious Senate Intelligence Committee hearing a day after The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he had been added to a text thread about U.S. military plans to strike Houthi militias in Yemen.
The incident has raised questions about the Trump administration’s handling of classified information, as well as its use of the encrypted messaging application Signal and other electronic communications.
In testimony, Ratcliffe acknowledged he was on the text chain but said it was “lawful.” He said the Signal app was loaded on his work computer at the CIA when he started the job and claimed it was permitted as a communication tool for work purposes.
He did not address whether it was appropriate to share detailed military plans on Signal.
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