Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, stated Sunday that he doesn’t believe there is any issue with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s leadership following the leak of a group chat discussing plans for airstrikes on Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
CNN anchor Dana Bash asked Lankford whether Hegseth should take responsibility for the issue since he was the one who allegedly “shared the specific information about the timing and aircraft being used” in the chat.
Lankford responded that he thinks Hegseth “just joined into an encrypted app. Lankford added that he didn’t see what happened as “much of an issue” since “they all believed that this was a closed circle of conversation.”
In addition, Hegseth just wanted to give the other administration officials “a heads up” regarding the plans for the attack, “as we had given a heads-up to our foreign partners overseas as well.”
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who publicized the contents of the conversation, was inadvertently added to the chat. The breach will be investigated by the National Security Council, the White House had said.
As Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted to X last week:
Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin. Here are the facts about his latest story:
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 25, 2025
1. No “war plans” were discussed.
2. No classified material was sent to the thread.
3. The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different…
Lankford added that he doesn’t see this as “an issue of leadership” regarding Hegseth, and that calls for him to resign are “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. 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 said, adding that “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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