Herb Conaway Says Officials Responsible for Signal Scandal Lack The ‘Moral Authority’ To Resign

2 days ago

During a press briefing from House Democrats on Tuesday, Rep. Herb Conaway (D-NJ) discussed the leaked Signal group chat regarding U.S. war plans in Yemen.

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00:00to introduce Herb Conway.

00:06Well, you've heard quite a lot, quite properly,

00:09about this very serious breach.

00:12The superlatives go on and on.

00:13The worst security breach that anyone

00:15has seen in our nation's warfighting history

00:18since, I don't know, for decades.

00:20We have an administration which plays fast and loose

00:24with the rules, disregards privacy of individuals,

00:28and now we find disregards the secrecy that should

00:32attend a warfighting action.

00:34It's the job of the Commander-in-Chief,

00:36certainly, to protect our nation,

00:38but it's also the job of the Commander-in-Chief

00:40to protect our warfighters when they are sent into action.

00:44The idea that this information should

00:46be shared on non-secure channels where foreign adversaries can

00:52access it, where they can understand

00:55how military operations might be conducted,

00:58and, as we have heard, no accountability, no explanation,

01:03but to pass it off as, well, it's just another thing,

01:07should anger every citizen of this country,

01:10should anger our allies, who are now

01:12going to need to be concerned about what will happen

01:15to their information when it's passed along

01:18to the highest, the upper reaches of our administration

01:21and the national security structure.

01:24This is very serious.

01:27This had happened during the Obama administration.

01:29We heard calls when Secretary Clinton had a private server

01:34that she should not only be prosecuted,

01:36she should be investigated, she should be put in jail.

01:39We've heard this over and over again in prior campaigns.

01:43Now, this has happened at this time

01:45with this administration.

01:47Again, if it was Biden, if it was Obama,

01:51we would be having hearings.

01:52The hearings would be scheduled before even all the facts

01:55were out.

01:55And they would be calling for not only an investigation,

01:58they would be calling for resignations.

02:00We have heard and we understand from people who know,

02:03from news organizations who know,

02:07that if any person who was a contractor for DOD,

02:10any person who was in the military who

02:13had engaged in this kind of security breach,

02:16they'd be out the door the next day.

02:18We've heard that people recognize

02:20that they made a mistake, would step forward and resign.

02:22But we don't have that moral authority.

02:24Unfortunately, the people that are

02:26at the top of our military and defense structure.

02:31And so we are certainly calling for accountability.

02:33But in this gentleman's opinion, a true accountability

02:39will occur when the Secretary of Defense, Hector Seth,

02:45resigns his office, as he should,

02:48just like any enlisted person or any other contractor for DOD

02:51would have to do.

02:52And National Security Advisor Waltz would do the same.

02:57They have committed very serious acts.

03:00And we've heard even possibly crimes.

03:02And we stand here calling for accountability.

03:05We must have it.

03:06The American people must demand it.

03:07And we must do all we can to ensure

03:11that accountability occurs.

03:13It's my honor and pleasure to bring forward

03:18for the second time, Congressman Tran.

Herb Conaway Says Officials Responsible for Signal Scandal Lack The ‘Moral Authority’ To Resign

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