Democrat Clashes With CIA Director Over Pete Hegseth

LOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON ― Rep. Jimmy Gomez got into a shouting match with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday after asking if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have been drinking before he used the third-party messaging app Signal to share war plans with national security officials ― and accidentally let a journalist into the group chat. “To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?” Gomez asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, one of several national security leaders testifying before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. But this was a question that’s on the top of minds of every American.” The California Democrat referenced reports of Hegseth allegedly drinking alcohol during a NATO press conference in February: “He stood in front of a podium in Europe holding a drink, so of course we want to know if his performance is compromised!” Rep. Jimmy Gomez clashed with CIA director John Ratcliffe over whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have been drinking when he used the messaging app Signal to share classified war plans with national security leaders. AP/Getty Ratcliffe later complained that Democrats only want to talk about the stunning security breach on Signal ― when Hegseth and top national security officials accidentally included a journalist in a classified war planning discussion on the third-party messaging app ― and don’t care about “the good work” of the CIA.