Top US Intel Officials Defend Signal Chats Seen by Journalist

The US’s top two intelligence officials defended their participation in a Signal messaging chat in which attack plans for strikes against Houthi rebels were shared, and denied that the information they discussed was classified. 

“My communications, to be clear, in a Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information,” Central Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe told lawmakers on Tuesday. 

Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were among the Trump team members who were included in a non-governmental messaging chat in which The Atlantic’s top editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently included. 

The revelations, published on Monday, dominated a previously planned hearing in the Senate on Tuesday to discuss an annual report on global threats.

“There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal chat,” Gabbard said. 

Ratcliffe said he was briefed when assuming his post that Signal was “permissible to use to communicate and coordinate for work purposes,” provided the information was also recorded through formal channels. He said one of the first things that happened after he was confirmed was that Signal was loaded onto his computer. 

“My staff implemented those processes, followed those processes,” he said. 

Gabbard echoed Ratcliffe’s comments, saying “I have not participated in any Signal group chat or any other chat on another app that contained classified information.”

In his article published Monday, Goldberg said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted the group the attack plan that included “precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing.” 

When pressed by Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, about whether the discussions included details of weapons packages, targets or timing of the attacks, Ratcliffe said, “not that I’m aware of.”

“Same answer and defer to the Department of Defense on that question,” Gabbard said.

Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, echoed other colleagues’ demands to publish the text stream if the information was not classified.

“It’s hard for me to believe that targets and timing and weapons would not have been classified,” King said.

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