At a Senate Democratic press briefing on Tuesday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) discussed the leaked group chat about Yemen war plans between Trump officials.
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NewsTranscript
00:00At this moment, the White House and Secretary Hicks are trying desperately to underplay
00:09a extraordinary blunder.
00:12We cannot overstate how serious of a disaster it is.
00:19If an American service member texted classified information about an active military operation
00:26to an unknown number on an unclassified app, they would be dismissed, investigated, and
00:34prosecuted.
00:36But the White House says there was no classified intelligence in this signal group.
00:42If that's true, the administration should immediately provide a copy of the group chat
00:49to Congress and the American people so we can make our own determination.
00:55I also understand that the messages in this signal chat were set to erase themselves after
01:02a certain amount of time.
01:04This would be a violation of federal records preservation laws.
01:09As such, the administration must preserve and provide a full transcript of these sessions
01:18immediately.
01:21Put simply, this has been one of the most egregious failures of operational security
01:29and common sense that I have ever seen.
01:32Up until now, military operations have been handled with the utmost discretion, using
01:39approved, secured lines of communication, because American lives are on the line.
01:46We need answers and accountability immediately.
01:50We should be grateful, frankly, that it was Jeffrey Goldberg, a responsible reporter,
01:56and not a foreign adversary who received this intelligence.
02:01Had this information been available to the Houthis in advance of the strikes, it could
02:06not only have allowed them to seek shelter, but it could also have allowed them to reposition
02:12anti-aircraft weapons that have put the lives of our aviators and other service members
02:19at risk.
02:21Taking a step back, all of this happened as the Trump administration systematically degrades
02:29America's national security in multiple ways.
02:34And I hope our Republican colleagues will join us in demanding answers and accountability
02:40for this incident.
02:42To quote Secretary Haigstad himself talking about the mishandling of classified documents,
02:49quote, if at the very top there is no accountability, then two tiers of justice exist.
02:58There must be one tier of justice, and Mr. Haigstad should follow that path of justice.
03:05Secretary Haigstad, however, went forward and deliberately sent the details of a military
03:14strike package, including the movement of U.S. service members in an active combat zone
03:20on an unclassified app, without confirming who the recipients were.
03:26I can't imagine that this information was not classified.
03:31President Trump has long advocated for accountability and transparency in the government, particularly
03:38as it relates to national security and the safety of American servicemen.
03:43As such, I trust he will address this breach with the seriousness and the diligence that
03:49it demands.
03:51I again request Secretary Haigstad to submit a full transcript of his signal messages to
03:58the Armed Services Committee.
04:00There is no legitimate basis for him to withhold information from the committee that he claims
04:06is unclassified and has already been shared with a journalist.
04:11And I urge a bipartisan investigation and swift action.