Gabbard, Ratcliffe 'lied repeatedly' about Signal chat messages, Bennet says
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said on Sunday that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe “lied repeatedly” about messages in a Signal group chat in which top members of the Trump administration discussed an attack on Yemen.
“Intelligence officials told your committee this week that no classified information was shared. Do you believe that directors Ratcliffe and Gabbard were truthful when they testified before your committee?” NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Bennet on “Meet the Press.”
“No, I think they lied repeatedly to our committee and to the House committee. Kristen, let me try to make this as simple as I can,” Bennet replied. “I think the American people know this. If this material was not classified, literally nothing that I've ever heard as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee over all these years is classified.”
Earlier this week, Bennet labeled the Signal incident disrespectful to rank-and-file intelligence officers during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
“This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for them is entirely unacceptable. It’s an embarrassment. Do better. You need to do better,” he said Tuesday.
Bennet wasn’t the only Democratic member of the Senate Intelligence Committee to critique the Signal incident Tuesday. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), went after Trump officials for the lack of care shown in their including a journalist and disregarding security protocols using Signal for discussion of an important operation.
“There’s plenty of declassified information that shows that our adversaries, China and Russia, are trying to break into encrypted systems,” Warner said Tuesday, adding that the Trump administration had demonstrated “careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information, that … is not a one-off or a first-time error.”
In his interview on “Meet the Press,” Bennet said there is a “need” for “the top members of our intelligence community to be nonpartisan.”
“We need them to tell the truth to the American people,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Gabbard’s office and the CIA for comment.