Maine delegation responds to war plan text chain that included journalist

PORTLAND (WGME) – Maine Senator Angus King serves on the Intelligence Committee and pressed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on a text chain discussing war plans that included a journalist from The Atlantic.

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King: "Sec. Hegseth put into this group text a detailed operation plan including targets, the weapons we’re going to be using and timing, and yet you've testified that nothing in that chain was classified. Wouldn't that be classified? What if that were made public the morning before the attack took place?"

Gabbard: "Senator, I can attest to the fact that there were no classified or intelligence equities that were included in that chat at any time and I"

King: "So, so the attack sequencing and timing and targets, you don't consider classified?"

Gabbard: "I defer to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council on that question."

King: "Well you're the head. You head the National Intelligence Community, and you're supposed to know about classifications. So your testimony is very clearly today that nothing was in that set of texts that were classified. I'll follow up on Sen. Wagner's question, if that's the case, please release whole text streams so that the public can have view of what transpired on this discussion."

Maine Second District Congressman Jared Golden also responded to the security breach Tuesday, saying this was a "clear failure" of information security that could have "grave consequences."

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"This incident raises questions about communications practices at the highest levels of the national security apparatus. If a service member acted this carelessly with such sensitive information they would face serious consequences, including the potential loss of security clearance, court martial or discharge. These officials should be held to the same high standard.”

Senator Susan Collins issued a statement as well.

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"From the information available to me at this time, the consequences of this groupchat could have been egregious and far reaching, or even posed a threat to our service members and our national security. I’m seeking more information, including why and how this even happened."