At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-NY) questioned John Eisenberg, a nominee to be an Assistant Attorney General, about the Signal leak scandal.
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NewsTranscript
00:00This is one example of some things that have been wrong.
00:03Senator Schiff.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:07Mr. Eisenberg, you served during the first administration as the NSC legal advisor.
00:15In that capacity, you must have participated in dozens, if not hundreds, of principal meetings
00:20organized by the National Security Advisor.
00:24Did you conduct any of those meetings by text chat that involved military strike plans?
00:29No, I don't believe so.
00:33So the entire first four years of the Trump administration, you never had a text chat
00:38conversation about plans to strike targets using an unencrypted, or using a commercial
00:44app?
00:45Well, I'm not aware of any such, I'd consider it an app.
00:50And you didn't do that because that would have been a terrible national security breach
00:54of protocol, would not?
00:56I would have to know a lot more to know whether that would be a breach.
01:00Would you really need to know more than a conversation about military targets, the time
01:06of the attack, the location of the targets, the ordinance being used?
01:13Sure.
01:14You'd want to know whether the device is up to a certain level so that it could, I mean,
01:18you might make one that-
01:19Okay, we're talking about a commercial app like Signal.
01:22Would it ever be appropriate to discuss imminent plans to strike military targets on a commercial
01:28app?
01:29I still think it's very difficult to answer that question in the abstract.
01:32I mean, I can think of circumstances in which you could, sure.
01:35Oh, well give us a circumstance in which you can talk about an imminent military attack
01:39unknown to the public, where it would be appropriate to do so on a commercial app.
01:44Okay, something absolutely urgent happens and needs to go right now and your normal
01:49communication systems don't work.
01:51I mean, there's an example where you would have to, you may have to do something like
01:55that.
01:56And where you have access to classified facilities?
01:59It would be completely inappropriate, wouldn't it?
02:02I still need to know more.
02:03Really?
02:04Wow.
02:05And you want to lead the National Security Department at the DOJ and you would need to
02:10know more?
02:11I would like to lead the NSD and I think I'm exceptionally qualified to do so.
02:15And do you, do you fail to believe the NSA and the DOD when they say that the use of
02:23commercial apps like Signal is a security threat and inappropriate for confidential
02:30or sensitive data?
02:32I haven't heard about either of those entities.
02:35So you don't have any idea what the view of the intelligence community is about the use
02:40of commercial apps to conduct government business involving classified or sensitive
02:46national security information?
02:47You have no idea what the position is?
02:49I'm sure the position is that in general that should never happen.
02:52Okay, so what happened in this Signal chat should never have happened.
02:57You agree with that?
02:58No, I said, as I said before, I would need to know more.
03:02Have you read the Signal chat?
03:04I have not yet.
03:06You have not read it.
03:07Are you desiring to be willfully blind to what just happened?
03:12No, I was trying to prepare for this hearing among other things.
03:15Oh, and you didn't anticipate you'd be asked about this?
03:19Or is it because you anticipated you would be asked about this?
03:21You didn't want to inform yourself of this incredible breach of national security.
03:26There are millions of things going on in the world at any given time.
03:30So I just didn't happen to learn about this one.
03:32Oh, I see.
03:33There are millions of things going on.
03:34Yes, I'm sure there are millions of things going on in the world.
03:38But this happens to be probably the biggest national security story of the month, which
03:45include a lot of other national security stories, including a war in the Middle East and including
03:50capitulation to Putin and Russia.
03:53But you just happened to neglect to read this one.
03:56Is that what we're led to believe?
03:57I just happened not to read it.
03:59That's all.
04:00Well, let me ask you this.
04:03If you're using a commercial app to discuss the identity of targets, their locations,
04:10and that information were to become public, it could compromise those operations, couldn't
04:14it?
04:15It depends on what the operation is and where in the operation.
04:17Well, let's say an operation to strike targets in Yemen, Houthi targets that identify, say,
04:23a top missile operative and the location of the girlfriend's building.
04:30Those kind of specific details discussed on a commercial app could jeopardize that
04:35operation if it became public.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Isn't that true?
04:38It depends on the circumstances.
04:39Well, I just gave you the circumstances.
04:40And that's why I'm not going to answer a hypothetical question.
04:42Well, it's not hypothetical.
04:43I wish to hell it were hypothetical.
04:45This just happened.
04:47This was shared with a journalist on a commercial app.
04:53You need more information than that?
04:54Well, how about discussing denigrating our European allies on a commercial app?
05:02Could that have diplomatic fallout?
05:04I don't know the circumstances.
05:06Really?
05:07So the vice president's conversations on this app, others joining in and disparaging Europe,
05:13this is completely new information to you?
05:15You're unaware?
05:16You can't comment on whether that could interfere with our relationship with our closest allies?
05:21No, I heard of the incident.
05:22I just, at this point, haven't had time to look at it closely.
05:25I'm a lawyer, sir.
05:27And before I make decisions and form opinions, I need to look at the facts carefully.
05:32Yeah.
05:33And you don't hide from the facts as a lawyer.
05:35Absolutely not.
05:36And if you want to head the National Security Division at the Department of Justice, you
05:39don't stick your head in the sand when we've had a serious breach of our national security
05:43so that you don't have to answer uncomfortable questions.
05:45That's not why.
05:46Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
05:49Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:50I find it interesting that my Democrat colleagues are so enraged by this non-story and had nothing
05:59to say when we had a president who literally...