Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s (D-Calif.) questions about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s drinking habits sparked fury from intelligence leaders at a House committee hearing Wednesday.
The House Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats assessment hearing had been scheduled long before The Atlantic reported top Trump national security officials used a Signal group chat to discuss forthcoming strikes on the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month — and mistakenly included a reporter in the group.
But the breach was a central topic throughout the hearing.
“A lot of questions were brought up regarding his drinking habits at his confirmation hearing. To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?” Gomez asked.
“I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said when asked about Hegseth’s drinking habits.
“No, you know, no. I’m not going to answer that. I think that’s an offensive line of question. The answer is, no,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe responded when asked the same question.
“I have huge respect for the CIA, huge respect for men and women in uniform. But this was a question that’s on the top of minds of every American, right? He stood in front of the podium in Europe holding a drink. So, of course we want to know if his performance is compromised,” Gomez said.
Ratcliffe said he was annoyed by the focus on the Signal chat instead of other threats that would typically be reviewed in the annual worldwide threats hearing.
“We’re getting questions about whether or not someone has drinking habits. And, you know, I just wish in an annual threats hearing, where the American people want to hear about threats, that that’s what we would be talking about,” he said.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also defended Hegseth.
Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5215202-democrat-hegseth-drinking-ratcliffe/
