Maine independent Sen. Angus King on Tuesday expressed disbelief as top national security officials attempted to downplay a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen and inadvertently included the editor of The Atlantic magazine.
King joined Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee in pressing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to account for discussing the March 16 air strikes in a group chat app that, if made public, could have endangered U.S. military personnel.
Gabbard, along with CIA director John Ratcliffe, repeatedly tried to claim that the messages on the app Signal did not contain classified information. But King and Democrats were incredulous.
"So the attack sequencing and timing and weapons and targets ... you don't consider should have been classified?" King asked.
Gabbard replied, "I defer to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council on that question."
King then challenged Gabbard to release the entire text chain, which included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe and Vice President J.D. Vance. It was observed by Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, who had been mistakenly invited.
Democrats say the controversy further illustrates the Trump administration's cavalier handling of information critical to national security.
Democrats' concerns were not publicly shared by Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee who largely tried to steer Tuesday's briefing to other matters.
Sen. Susan Collins who serves on the committee with King was not present during the briefing.
Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the committee, said that Collins was under the weather. A spokesperson for Collins confirmed the senator is ill and shared a prepared statement in which the Republican expressed concerns about the group chat.
"As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I receive frequent classified briefings on global threats and military operations," Collins said. "From the information available to me at this time, the consequences of this group chat could have been egregious and far reaching, or even posed a threat to our service members and our national security. I’m seeking more information, including why and how this even happened. I will be submitting formal questions through the Intelligence Committee to DNI Gabbard and CIA Director Ratcliffe, and look forward to the National Security Council’s review of the situation."
Collins did cast votes in the Senate on Tuesday, but her spokesperson said the senator would have risked spreading her illness to fellow members of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the confined setting.
