Chrissy Houlahan Demands Officials Be ‘Held Accountable’ For ‘Colossal Screwup’ Of Group Chat Leak

2 days ago

During a press briefing on the Signal group chat leak on Tuesday, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) called for an investigation into the Signal group chat leak detailing war plans amongst Trump officials.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Congresswoman Huland, excuse me.

00:02No worries.

00:04And thank you very much for organizing this and this opportunity to reiterate what has already been said.

00:11When I was a little girl, when I was 10 years old, I lived in Annandale, Virginia.

00:15My dad was the Navy person responsible to Secretary Brown, Secretary of Defense Brown.

00:21Under his bed, my father's bed, was a red phone.

00:24I was instructed as a 10-year-old, never, ever, under any circumstances, do I touch or pick up that phone.

00:30Because that was the way that they were able to communicate back in 1970-whatever,

00:34to make sure that they could have conversations, active conversations.

00:38Fast forward to the 80s when I was an active duty lieutenant myself and spent the bulk of my career in a skiff.

00:44Having learned all of the different ways that you manage classified information and don't manage classified information,

00:49if I had done this as a junior officer, I would have absolutely marched myself into my colonel's office and resigned on the spot.

00:56In addition, I would have expected to be sent to jail.

00:59So Pete Hexeth, Mike Waltz, Marco Rubio, I mean, listen to this list, Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel,

01:04and every other Trump administration official who uses signal for war planning and mission execution

01:10has to be held to account for their stunning incompetence and their intentional clear defiance.

01:15So that's what we are all doing here today.

01:17We want to make sure that the hearing is called.

01:20We expect, frankly, that no hearing will be called, and so that we will have to at some point escalate this.

01:25But for either this group of Cavalier officials, this group of Cavalier officials does not grasp the danger that they have put our nation in.

01:32If they don't grasp that, they just don't care.

01:35So either way, whether they care or don't care, know or don't understand, this is a colossal screw-up,

01:41and they need to be accountable for that.

01:43So the issue for the administration is not to address.

01:46We talked about some red herrings, how a reporter got added to a signal chat.

01:50That's a complete red herring.

01:52Although the gaslighting currently underway from the president and the National Security Council themselves,

01:57that's what they're trying to fool you with.

01:59I can tell you exactly what happened.

02:01We all used signal.

02:02Accidentally Mike Waltz typed in somebody's name, and he got added to the chat.

02:07And the rest is, as they say, history.

02:09And it's history because we now have the receipts.

02:12We can now, thanks to the Atlantic's reporter, have the magic of screenshots.

02:17And so if we're being told that there is nothing to see here and that none of this is classified

02:22and that no information was shared on an unsecured or unapproved communication platform that was classified,

02:28then that's just fine.

02:29Then show us the money.

02:31Show us the receipts.

02:32Don't edit it.

02:33Don't redact it.

02:34Don't disappear it.

02:35Release it, and release it right now.

02:38But we know they won't do that either.

02:40They're lying about what happened because it was reckless, because it was probably illegal.

02:44They're covering for themselves and for others.

02:46They're gaslighting us here in the Congress, you here in the audience, everybody back home.

02:50The same people who have spent months, and in some cases years,

02:53pursuing leaks and classified information and promised forms of legal retribution

02:58are now tightening their own ranks and closing their own ranks.

03:02So who gets hurt when that happens?

03:04We've talked about it a little bit.

03:06Men and women in uniform get hurt and possibly die.

03:09And the fact that nobody did die apparently right now is just an accident of chance and luck.

03:14So we, the American people, and us, the members of Congress,

03:17we owe ourselves a level of accountability, and we call for an investigation now.

03:23It is my privilege to introduce a fellow colleague, also from the Armed Services and Intel Committee,

03:30as well, Representative Jason Crow of Colorado.

Chrissy Houlahan Demands Officials Be ‘Held Accountable’ For ‘Colossal Screwup’ Of Group Chat Leak

Category

Transcript

Recommended