During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the leaked Signal chat involving Trump cabinet members discussing sensitive details on strikes against the Houthi.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Yesterday, I said Pete Hegseth should be fired from his position as Secretary of Defense.
00:07In the short time that Secretary Hegseth has been on the job, he's already shown – no
00:14surprise to us, we said this at the hearing – that he lacks the judgment and character
00:18to lead America's national defense.
00:21What we learned yesterday regarding the information he shared on Signal is shocking.
00:26He sent very specific details about military plans over unsecured text messages.
00:33Yesterday's revelations were alarming, but they were not enough.
00:38We need answers, more answers, because more damage may have been done than the public
00:43and all of us know.
00:45That's why my colleagues and I are calling on the Trump administration to release the
00:51full, unredacted text conversation from this Signal chat, including everything communicated
00:59after the journalist prudently removed himself.
01:03We need to know if anyone – if any – senior national security official was using his or
01:08her personal devices.
01:11Ms. Gabbard's silence on this issue, when asked repeatedly in committee, was very, very
01:16troubling.
01:17And we need to know if there have been other sensitive conversations like this on unsecured
01:22channels.
01:23Senate Democrats across committees of jurisdiction are taking action.
01:26It's encouraging that both Ranking Member Reid and Chairman Wicker are calling for a
01:32DOD IG investigation.
01:35Now for the past day, the Trump administration has tied itself into knots about semantics.
01:40They're spending all their energy on what counts as classified or not, what counts as
01:46a war plan, an attack plan, and on and on and on.
01:50But that's utter nonsense.
01:52The plain fact is that if the Russians or Iranians or the Houthis had somehow known
01:56about these texts, if someone more nefarious than Mr. Goldberg had been added to the text
02:01chain, our troops would have been in danger, the mission would have been compromised.
02:07And once he got caught, did Secretary Texas take responsibility for his shocking lack
02:13of judgment, which is what he should have done?
02:15Any upright Secretary, upstanding Secretary of Defense would have done that?
02:21Did he exhibit the kind of leadership Americans expect from the man who may deploy our troops
02:25into battle, from the man who may send our family members, our friends, our neighbors
02:30into harm way?
02:32Did he accept that responsibility?
02:34Nope, he didn't.
02:36Instead of accepting responsibility, Secretary Hexeth attacked the journalist.
02:41Amazing.
02:42It's like an Alice in Wonderland world.
02:46And called him deceitful.
02:48He pointed fingers, he blamed the liberal media, moaned about hoaxes.
02:53Mr. Hexeth, this is not a hoax.
02:56It's very real and very serious.
02:59You should not be in your job.
03:01I yield the floor and note the absence of a point.