3 weeks ago
Last Updated:March 26, 2025, 23:20 IST
US Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard admitted it was a mistake to include The Atlantic's editor in a Signal chat about sensitive war plans.
Tulsi Gabbard, DNI, told the Select Committee on Intelligence that the leak of the war plans via group chat where a journalist was mistakenly added was a “mistake”. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
US Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Wednesday it was a mistake that the editor of The Atlantic was added to a Signal messaging chat discussing sensitive war plans.
Gabbard also told a House of Representatives hearing on Worldwide Threats, which was scheduled before the news of the chat, that she would be somewhat constrained in her ability to discuss the incident because of a lawsuit filed over the case.
Gabbard has pledged to crack down on people within the intelligence community who leak information to journalists.
Gabbard, who oversees 18 spy agencies, said she would be “aggressively pursuing recent leakers" in order to hold them accountable for unauthorized disclosures.
“Politically motivated leaks undermine our national security and the trust of the American people, and will not be tolerated," Gabbard wrote on Friday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Gabbard listed recent examples of what she said were leaks of information concerning Israel-Iran, the U.S.-Russia relationship and the Counterintelligence and Security Center to media outlets including Huffington Post, The Washington Post, NBC News, and the Record.
“Any unauthorized release of classified information is a violation of the law and will be treated as such," Gabbard said.
During his first term, Republican President Donald Trump was angered by leaks to news outlets and his administration pursued both journalists and their sources inside the federal government.
His administration secretly secured data on members of Congress, their staffers, journalists and a former White House lawyer as part of a probe into leaks of classified information – a move that prompted former Attorney General Merrick Garland to strengthen Department of Justice policies on obtaining records of lawmakers in 2021.
Garland’s Justice Department also changed its policy to broadly ban prosecutors from subpoenaing reporters’ phone and email records after an outcry over its actions during the Trump-era leak investigations.
The Justice Department’s internal watchdog in 2024 found that prosecutors’ decision to subpoena phone and email records from members of Congress and their staff during Trump’s first term risked a chilling effect on congressional oversight.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - Reuters)Location :Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
First Published:March 26, 2025, 22:24 IST
News world ‘It Was A Mistake’: In A First, US Spy Chief Tulsi Gabbard Admits To War Chat Leak Blunder
