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- [00:01]
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- [00:30]
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- [01:00]
Host
Now, I'm joined by Senator Adam Schiff. Senator, how big of a deal is this leak of classified information on text threads about war plans now that we've had a day or so to process it all?
- [01:14]
Senator Adam Schiff
Well, there's no sugar coating and it's a massive fuck up, dealing with some really highly sensitive national security information. These were detailed war plans, detailed plans to strike military targets in Yemen, Houthi targets, the time of the attacks, the sequencing of the attacks, the ordinance that's being used, all of this laid out in a commercial app, including people on the app who were in foreign countries at the time, one of whom, Steve Witkoff, the envoy to the Middle east and to Russia, was apparently in Russia, may have been even in the Kremlin while he's texting in this chat. So, massive screw up by the administration and you know, there's so much to be shocked about by this. I chaired the House Intelligence Committee. When I would travel overseas, I wouldn't bring my personal electronics. I would bring, if anything, a burner phone. I was made aware. Anything I texted, anything I emailed, I should assume that foreign governments have access to. There is no privacy. They're going to be deeply interested in anything that's said over these communications. To be discussing this, jeopardize potentially the safety of the American pilots conducting these operations, jeopardize the potential success of the mission and the fact that no one on this chat, not the Vice President, not the Secretary of Defense, not the National Security Advisor, not the head of the CIA, not the head of the national, the dni, Director of National Intelligence. None of them apparently bothered to say, hey, folks, we shouldn't be talking about this shit in a commercial chat on a commercial app. This is the most negligent handling of highly sensitive information. No one even bothered to say that. Which tells me this wasn't the first time. It also tells me that beyond negligent, they're just arrogant and feel they can do whatever they want. There's no accountability. Hegseth, when he's first confronted, basically used the go to for the Trump administration, and that is, he went straight to the lie accusing Jeffrey Goldberg of making this up. It's all a big lie. They never discussed war plans, etc. That's their fallback. And the results of this ought to be his resignation. I think Tulsi Gabbard should resign. If she can't be trusted to know better with national security information, she can't be trusted with the nation's secrets. The same is true of Ratcliffe. And if Witkoff was in texting from the Kremlin or from Russian soil, he should be gone. They should be fired or they should quit.
- [04:01]
Host
So, Senator, you're calling for those resignations. You may have said it before, but you're calling for those resignations right now, correct?
- [04:09]
Senator Adam Schiff
Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And if this were any other administration, it would be a foregone conclusion they would be gone. But you compound it with the testimony we heard today from many of these same people where Ratcliffe was essentially, no, this wasn't a big mistake. And Gabbard is like, well, this information wasn't classified. All of that is just utter nonsense. And for them to try to pretend this is anything other than a desperately dangerous mishandling of national security information from the same crowd, the same Hillary email crowd, is just the most unconscionable hypocrisy.
- [04:50]
Host
So earlier today in the Senate, there was that hearing with DNI Tulsi Gabbard, CAA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Cash Patel, DNI Tulsi Gabbard was asked about these documents or these messages, and she said, to your point, point, they're not classified, and seem to suggest that there was nothing wrong with it. At the same time, she refused to say if she was the TG because she wouldn't say that she was in it, but she also said that it's not classified. Let me share with you what was said so our audience can hear it. As well. Then I'll ask you about it, contact.
- [05:28]
Senator Adam Schiff
The Defense Secretary or others after this specific military planning was put out and say, hey, we should be doing this in a scifold. There was no classified material that was shared in that. So then there was no classified material.
- [05:45]
Host
So when she's saying under oath there that there was no classified information, you've had the ability to read those messages, as has the public at this point. What do you say to them?
- [05:56]
Senator Adam Schiff
Well, if they weren't classified, they should have been classified. And I think what she's doing is the same thing that Hegseth tried to do, which is play with the language. So hedgeset says, well these weren't war plans. So he's going to fall back on the excuse we're not in a state of war with the enemy, therefore these are not war plans. None of that matters. If you're discussing details of military strikes, the risk is the same. And what Gabbard is saying basically is this information because it was in real time, there was no agency opportunity to classify it. Well, that's giving a technical answer to obfuscate. Obfuscate the truth, which is this is deeply sensitive national security information which by the way is a crime to mishandle. And they recklessly mishandled this information having this confirmation conversation. And while the conversation itself, they can argue about the material contained in the conversation, the details of this attack and the timing and the targets, all of that should be classified.
- [07:01]
Host
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was on Fox, Laura Ingraham moments ago trying to normalize what went down. And he was like, you know what happens when you just like put in like the wrong person's number in your phone and like this happens to all of us. Right? Let me show you what they're doing on Fox right now.
- [07:18]
Senator Adam Schiff
Let's play it.
- [07:19]
Mike Waltz
President. But I don't text him. He wasn't on my phone. And we're going to figure out how this happens.
- [07:23]
Senator Adam Schiff
So you don't know what staffer is responsible for this right now?
- [07:27]
Mike Waltz
Well, look, a staffer wasn't responsible and look, I take full responsibility. I built the, I built the group to. My job is to make sure everything's coordinated. I mean, I don't mean to be.
- [07:37]
Senator Adam Schiff
Pedantic here, but how did the number.
- [07:39]
Mike Waltz
Have you ever had a, have you ever had somebody's contact that shows their name and then you have an. And then you have somebody else number those mistakes, right? You got somebody else's number on someone else's contact. So of course I didn't see this loser in the group, it looked like someone else. Now, whether he did it deliberately or. Or it happened in some other technical mean is something we're trying to figure out.
- [07:59]
Host
So this looks like some like bizarro awful movie cosplay scene playing out there where she, like, looks at the camera. That doesn't happen to everybody. And he's such a bad liar. Like just even watching that he should resign for that appearance.
- [08:16]
Senator Adam Schiff
Oh, my God. Well, you got Laura Ingram pretending that, what, I guess she's constantly texting the wrong person detailed military strike plans. Is that something that's a normal thing of her day? That is absurd. And then you get the suggestion that he just plants in there that, well, maybe the reporter somehow inserted himself into this chat, which cannot happen on Signal. So he wants to plant some seed and he attacks the reporter, calling the reporter a loser. No, Mike Wallace, you're the loser. And frankly, the country loses when we have an incompetent bozo like you as the national security advisor. So, yeah, that conversation is quite revealing at every level. They blame the journalist when they get caught mishandling national security information that jeopardizes our personnel.
- [09:11]
Host
But Senator, they did say they're going to get to the bottom of it and they have a plan. And the plan is they're going to put Elon Musk on it. Here, play this clip.
- [09:22]
Ad
Certainly think that the White House is going to get to the bottom of this issue to understand how Goldberg got into this chat.
- [09:28]
Senator Adam Schiff
Yeah, I can tell you who will is. Elon Musk. He's going to get to the bottom of it.
- [09:32]
Host
Elon Musk is going to figure this one all out, too. Let's give this to Elon Musk. I mean, it's pathetic. I don't know how else to describe trying to find the words. It's pathetic.
- [09:43]
Senator Adam Schiff
It is pathetic. Actually, the only good that Elon Musk could do here is if he would riff all these people that are responsible for that chat. It's so pathetic the way they can't acknowledge the magnitude of this screw up. They can't take responsibility for it. Even while Mike Wall's saying the buck stops with him, he's saying he's blaming the reporter for his own screw up and not acknowledging the risk that this meant to our national security. Now, the NSA had already warned people in the intelligence community not to use this app, not to believe that whatever they say on Signal is not subject to being hacked or spearfished or whatnot. They've already been warned. The Pentagon put out another warning after this incident, but they don't need to be reminded of this. This is something that the intelligence community has known for years and everybody on that call should have had the most basic training. But this is really the problem. When you have people appointed like Tulsi Gabbard, who has no experience in the intelligence community, and you have people appointed like Kash Patel, who's just a hack for the president, and you have others appointed like Hegseth, who was a Fox couch potato and gets appointed. They're all out of their depth. And the ones who get hurt are the American people, our national security. With this colossal screw up on Signal.
- [11:15]
Host
What'S your final message to the American people who are like, what comes next? What do you say?
- [11:21]
Senator Adam Schiff
Well, look, I think the takeaway for the American people is that this crowd is reckless with the nation's security. They don't care if they endanger our service members carrying out missions. They don't care if they endanger the success of the mission. They're going to lie, they're going to obfuscate, they're going to act recklessly. This probably wasn't the first time, it probably won't be the last time. These are the consequences when you appoint people on the basis of who said nice things about you or who appeared good on Fox News. This is the criteria the president uses for top level appointments. And the result is we are less safe as a nation. The catalog of irresponsible actions is long. Just looking at one of the participants in the Signal chat and other events this week, Wyckoff. This envoy to the Kremlin, this envoy to the Middle east was quoted saying that he thought Putin was a man of his word, talking about Putin, praying for Donald Trump. I mean, this is someone who has been so easily manipulated by the Kremlin and now potentially has compromised information of a deeply sensitive national security matter to the Kremlin, if not others. So sadly, it's the American people and our security that are going to be hurt by all this.
- [12:45]
Host
Senator Adam Schiff, thanks for joining us. As always, great to be with you. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. Can't get enough Midas. Check out the Midas substack for ad. Free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free now@midasplus.com.