Sen. James Lankford (R-LA), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that he does not believe there is an “issue of leadership” with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the leak of a Signal group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Dana Bash asked Lankford if Hegseth should take responsibility after noting that the defense secretary “shared the specific information about the timing and aircraft being used” in the Signal chat.
“I think he just joined into an encrypted app,” Lankford said, adding that he did not “see it as much of an issue” because “they all believed that this was a closed circle of conversation” and Hegseth was trying to give them “a heads up” of the attack plan “as we had given a heads-up to our foreign partners overseas as well.”
The White House has said that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who publicized the contents of the conversation, was “inadvertently added” to the Signal chat and the breach would be investigated by the National Security Council.
In response to the Signal controversy, Hegseth said his “job” was to “provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed.” Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has taken “full responsibility” for the leak, noting that he built the Signal group.
Lankford said the Signal app was being used for “normal communication” and what was “not normal” was having a reporter “in the middle of the” conversation.
When Bash pressed Lankford on whether he had any doubts about Hegseth’s leadership, the senator said, “No, I don’t see this as an issue of leadership.”
Lankford, who had earlier said an inspector general inquiry into the leak would be appropriate, went on to say that people calling for Hegseth for Hegseth to resign was “way overkill.”
Hegseth “is stepping in and has actually led a very successful first attack here on somebody that had attacked the United States over and over again,” Lankford said. “During the Biden administration, they had very limited response. Pete Hegseth has actually organized and coordinated an initial response to pushback and make them stop.”
Lankford also said: “The story behind the story here is that Houthis have attacked American ships 170-some-odd times. So, for the Trump administration to push back on them is an entirely appropriate thing to be able to do. And they are pushing back on them strong to be able to stop their attack on American warships.”
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[[{“value”:”
Sen. James Lankford (R-LA), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that he does not believe there is an “issue of leadership” with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the leak of a Signal group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Dana Bash asked Lankford if Hegseth should take responsibility after noting that the defense secretary “shared the specific information about the timing and aircraft being used” in the Signal chat.
“I think he just joined into an encrypted app,” Lankford said, adding that he did not “see it as much of an issue” because “they all believed that this was a closed circle of conversation” and Hegseth was trying to give them “a heads up” of the attack plan “as we had given a heads-up to our foreign partners overseas as well.”
The White House has said that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who publicized the contents of the conversation, was “inadvertently added” to the Signal chat and the breach would be investigated by the National Security Council.
In response to the Signal controversy, Hegseth said his “job” was to “provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed.” Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has taken “full responsibility” for the leak, noting that he built the Signal group.
Lankford said the Signal app was being used for “normal communication” and what was “not normal” was having a reporter “in the middle of the” conversation.
When Bash pressed Lankford on whether he had any doubts about Hegseth’s leadership, the senator said, “No, I don’t see this as an issue of leadership.”
Lankford, who had earlier said an inspector general inquiry into the leak would be appropriate, went on to say that people calling for Hegseth for Hegseth to resign was “way overkill.”
Hegseth “is stepping in and has actually led a very successful first attack here on somebody that had attacked the United States over and over again,” Lankford said. “During the Biden administration, they had very limited response. Pete Hegseth has actually organized and coordinated an initial response to pushback and make them stop.”
Lankford also said: “The story behind the story here is that Houthis have attacked American ships 170-some-odd times. So, for the Trump administration to push back on them is an entirely appropriate thing to be able to do. And they are pushing back on them strong to be able to stop their attack on American warships.”
“}]]
