Senate Democrats dissatisfied with intel officials' responses about Signal chat

U.S. intelligence leaders on Tuesday strenuously defended their use of a commercial messaging app to conduct internal deliberations before U.S. troops launched attacks against the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee grilled Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe about their participation in a group message with other Cabinet members and senior White House staff that disclosed specific operational details two hours prior to the assault.

“This is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly toward classified information,” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel’s top Democrat, said in his opening statement during the public portion of the panel’s annual worldwide threats hearing.

"If this was the case, the behavior of an intelligence officer, they would be fired," he later added, saying the national security officials did not practice “security hygiene 101.”

Gabbard initially dodged questions about if she was even a member of the group, despite confirmation from the White House that she was, but eventually conceded that point and admitted administration officials in the chat discussed targets. She could not recall if they also discussed the timing of airstrikes, weapons systems or military units.

Ratcliffe, meanwhile, freely testified he was in the group and repeatedly said that he had been previously briefed about "the use of Signal as a permissible work use." 

He said he was informed that any decisions made needed to be recorded in “formal channels.” 

"It is permissible to use to communicate and coordinate for work purposes, provided, senator, that any decisions that are made are also recorded through formal channels. So those were procedures that were implemented.”

The encrypted messaging platform has become a popular option for many government officials in Washington following the infiltration of U.S. telecom networks by the China-linked hacking group known as Volt Typhoon to target and spy on top leaders like Vice President JD Vance, another member of the administration’s Signal chain.

However, despite the app’s security features, such as end-to-end encryption and the ability to set time limits for holding messages, security experts have warned there is still significant danger to using it as personal devices themselves could be infected with malware and allow an adversary to read communications as they arrive.

Gabbard — who along with Ratcliffe repeatedly said no classified information was shared in the chat — declined to answer if she used a government-issued device or a personal one while in the group.

“I won’t speak to this because it’s under review by the National Security Council. Once that review is complete, I’m sure we’ll share the results with the committee,” she said.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), an honorary member of the Intelligence Committee, replied: "What is under review? It's a very simple question. Your private phone or officially issued phone. What could be under review?” 

Gabbard did not specify how the council was conducting the review or who is running it. Both she and Ratcliffe said they would be open to an “audit” of their communications related to the group. Warner and other Democrats demanded the full transcript of the discussion — much of which was reported by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic — be released.

"If there was no classified material, share it with the committee. You can't have it both ways. These are important jobs. This is our national security,” he said. 

It’s bizarre. The Trump admin is claiming this information is “not classified” but won’t release the texts. Which is it? Why won’t they answer simple questions? pic.twitter.com/dvoUGfA4ey

— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) March 25, 2025

FBI Director Kash Patel said that he had been informed of the article late Monday night and did not have an update on if his agency had launched an investigation into the matter.

Near the end of the public session, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) asked Ratcliffe if he would call the episode a “huge mistake.”

“No,” Ratcliffe replied.

Ossoff noted the administration has not expressed any regret over the incident.

“This is an embarrassment. This is utterly unprofessional. There's been no apology. There has been no recognition of the gravity of this error,” he said. “We will get the full transcript of this chain and your testimony will be measured carefully against its content."