'Caught red-handed': Trump family member says GOP just handed Dems a 'golden opportunity'
In a post on Thursday, President Donald Trump's niece, Dr. Mary Trump, said that the new scandal, "Signalgate," is an opportunity for Democrats to hammer the White House on national security practices.
Dr. Trump went through the bombshell report in The Atlantic, which alleged that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared secret war plans in a Signal chat while inadvertently revealing them to a reporter who had been errantly added to the group.
The administration responded by denying that any classified information was transmitted through the chats, and The Atlantic responded Tuesday by publishing messages showing that Hegseth revealed the precise times that American missiles were scheduled to strike at Houthi rebel groups inside Yemen.
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"These were the war plans," wrote Dr. Trump. "This is what these breathtakingly shameless liars claimed never happened. But it all did happen, didn't it?"
"They denied the texts existed; they denied that any classified information was shared. Then in order to deflect from their crimes, they attacked Jeffrey Goldberg, who was there at their invitation, intentional or otherwise. They've been caught red-handed," she added.
She thinks it will come down to whether Republicans in the Senate "care enough to do something."
Punchbowl reporter Jake Sherman revealed on Wednesday that Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) could be one of those Republicans who "care enough."
"They know, to a person, how serious this is," said Dr. Trump. "In a sane world, they understand that every single traitor in that chat would be fired and tried under the Espionage Act."
Conversely, how Democrats handle the scandal will also make a difference, she said.
"This is a golden opportunity for them to take up this cause and make it clear to the American people that they, and they alone, care about the national security of this country and for the citizens in it," she said.