Alert – Humiliation as Trump defense chiefs accused of lying about leaked war plans that could have ‘killed US pilots’: Live updates

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Democratic Congressman Jim Himes, who is ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed the Trump administration officials for leaking the Yemen war plans on Signal.

‘It’s by the awesome grace of god that we are not mourning dead pilots right now,’ the Connecticut congressman said in his opening.

‘You apologize, you own it,’ Himes said.

The congressman slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz attacking The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in response.

Himes noted Golberg was added by a Trump official and didn’t even want to be included on the chat he was included in.

President Donald Trump blasted ‘left-wing billionaires’ for being behind the attacks on Tesla lots as he defended DOGE chief Elon Musk.

The president also argued those wealthy liberals were behind his state and federal indictments.

He discussed the matter in an interview on NewsMax.

Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Vice President JD Vance was over two hours late for his scheduled speech to Marines at Quantico military base near Washington, DC on Wednesday.

‘I’m proud of you guys, I’m proud to be here, i’m proud of what you do and most of all today I’m proud that I think under new leadership, the Marine Corps and the entire United States military is headed in the right direction.’

Vance did not address the ongoing controversy about leaked Signal texts about a military operation in Yemen after The Atlantic magazine published them Wednesday morning.

He did confirm, however, that he spent the morning meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.

‘I know I was late, and it’s funny … what does it mean when the vice president is two hours late … I guess I’m on time, because who the hell is going to get me in trouble?’ he asked.

Vance said that Trump asked him to tell the Marines that ‘he loves you’ and that ‘he’s proud of you.’

‘God Bless you and Semper Fidelis!’ Vance concluded, after ten minutes of remarks.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed his agency sent to the House Intelligence Committee documents related to the Congressional Baseball Game shooting in 2017.

Capitol Hill offices have requested the FBI documents on the attack for nearly a decade.

Patel handed them over right after the conclusion of the House hearing on worldwide threats, of which the director was a participant and was asked to share the materials.

‘Providing these documents was one of our top priorities in delivering a new FBI era of transparency,’ Patel said.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump dismissed the contents of the messages contained in a Signal chat where his top officials were discussing attack plans on Yemen.

The president insisted nothing was ‘compromised’ in the group chat, which The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg became privy to just before the attack.

It was revealed that a staffer for National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was the one who added Goldberg to the encrypted Signal chat.

‘It is bizarre,’ Trump told conservative podcast host Vince Coglianese. ‘But somebody in my group – he just screwed up or it’s a bad Signal… Seems to be maybe came in with a staffer and it was by accident, from what we can tell.’

‘There weren’t details,’ he said of the ‘Houthis PC small group’ chat. ‘And there was nothing in there that compromised – and it had no impact on the attack, which was very successful.’

‘A thing like that, maybe Goldberg found a way – maybe there’s a staffer, maybe there’s a very innocent staffer, but I think we’ll get to the bottom of it very quickly and it’s really not a big deal,’ he told Coglianese.

Congressman Jimmy Gomez raised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ‘drinking habits’ which were brought up in his confirmation hearing.

‘To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?’ Gomez asked.

‘I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits,’ Tulsi Gabbard responded.

But when he asked John Ratcliffe the same question, he shot back angrily.

‘I think that’s an offensive line of questioning. The answer’s no,’ he said.

The pair then yelled over each other. Gomez insisted it was his time, but John Ratcliffe accused him of not wanting to ‘focus on the work that the CIA is doing.’

‘I have huge respect for the CIA, huge respect for our men and women in uniform,’ Gomez shot back after reclaiming his time. He argued it was a question that’s on the top of minds of ‘every American.’

‘He stood in front of a podium in Europe holding a drink, so of course we want to know if his performance is compromised,’ Gomez said.

The two continued to speak over each other.

Later, Gabbard pushed back that it’s wrong to ‘impugn’ Hegseth.

Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan also spoke up after where she claimed Ratcliffe accused her, as a Democrat, of not caring about national threats was ‘offensive.’

She said she would like to focus on such threats like biosecurity but said the threat is ‘in the house’ so she needs to ask the questions.

Pete Hegseth continues defying the idea that he published ‘war plans’ in his Signal texts to adminstration officials even though he wrote specific times and details about the attacks.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

The fury over the national security group chat published by the Atlantic has reached the point that even the Agriculture secretary is being confronted with questions about it.

‘There is no doubt that my friends, my colleagues, my family that are part of this cabinet were the best, most patriotic, most impressive Americans that I’ve ever been around and I’m so proud of them,’ Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the White House when asked about the latest developments, amid Democratic calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign.

She also addressed criticism by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that the bird flu vaccine could lead to ‘flocks of mutant factories. ‘We’re no longer working in our silos’ and agreed with Kennedy’s ‘all encompassing approach’ without getting into the mutant comment.

She dodged again when DailyMail.com asked her to explain language transmitted to probationary employees at the Agriculture Department who got fired. They were told ‘you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest.’

She referenced DOGE and said ‘the most important bottom line is that the entire cabinet is aligned, is supportive, and understands the president’s vision which is being effectuated by Elon Musk.’

Rollins referenced future reductions In force. The department has reinstated about 5,000 fired employees after receiving an order from a civil service protections board.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted The Atlantic for its release of the texts in the Signal chain about the boming in Yemen.

‘No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information,’ he said of the texts, adding: ‘Those are some really sh***y war plans.’

‘This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an “attack plan” (as he now calls it). Not even close,’ he said.

The Trump administration is insisting there was no classified material in the texts. But many security officials say the details Hegseth posted in the messaging app would have been classified information at the time.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Congressman Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who is a former Army Ranger and Bronze Star recipient, delivered a brutal response to the Trump administration’s handling of the Signal leak and called for the defense secretary to resign.

‘I spent my life in service to this country. I deployed three times to combat in service to this nation. I learned in that time in service that responsibility is core to leadership, Crow said.

‘You accept responsibility when things go wrong. You admit mistakes. You set the standard from the very top,’ he continud.

‘It is completely outrageous to me that administration officials come before us today with impunity. No acceptance of responsibility. Excuse after excuse after excuse while we send our men and women downrange to do incredibly difficult, incredibly dangerous things on our behalf. And yet nobody is willing to come to us and say “This was wrong. This was a breach of security, and we won’t do it again,”’ he said.

‘It is outrageous and it is a leadership failure and that’s why Secretary Hegseth who undoubtedly transmitted classified, sensitive operational information via this chain must resign immediately,’ he declared.

He said there can be no fixes until there is accountiblity.

During his questioning of witnesses, Crow pressed Gabbard on the chat.

He noted Steve Witkoff was in Russia during the Signal chat.

‘I was not aware of that,’ Gabbard said.

She acknowledged she was in Asia at the time but did not remember which country.

Crow read a line from text ‘we are a go for mission launch’ and asked her if it indicates there’s about the be a military operation.

‘Yes,’ Gabbard said.

Crow read the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s classifications guide that says indication of an attack is to be classified ‘top secret.’

He asked if she was familiar with it.

‘Yes,’ she responded.

He asked if the Houthis have indicated the ability to shoot down an American aircraft and have already done so.

‘Yes,’ Gabbard said to both.

Counselor to the president Alina Habba tore into the press and defended the president’s embattled national security advisor minutes after the Atlantic released the full text of the group chat about a military attack that included its editor.

Habba, who helped represent Trump in the Stormy Daniels trial and other cases and followed him to the White House and who Trump named to be the next U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, said national security advisor Mike Waltz is doing a ‘tremendous’ job.

‘We’re allowed to have communications. That’s period the end, and the President spoke to this. We stand by my Mike Waltz, who’s doing a tremendous job. I think this is a distraction,’ Habba told reporters at the White House.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) called for the defense secretary to resign during the House hearing.

‘Secretary Hegseth has disclosed military plans as well as classified information. He needs to resign immediately,’ the lawmaker said.

Krishnamoorthi also called for a full investigation to be undertaken regarding whether other similar signal chats were occurring in the administration.

He made the call with a massive poster including Hegseth’s Signal message behind him.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also called for Hegseth to be fired in a letter to President Trump on Tuesday

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

One of Donald Trump’s least favorite judges, at least as of late, has been assigned to oversee a case regarding the White House’s latest scandal.

D.C. district court judge James Boasberg was assigned to a lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s Signal scandal, in which he accidentally invited a journalist into a private group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.

The fiasco is the latest fire that the White House is seeking to quickly snuff out.

Boasberg, who was appointed by Barack Obama, recently caught the ire of Trump after ruling against the White House’s deportation flights to El Salvador.

The president has called for Boasberg to be impeached, and Trump’s friends in Congress are demanding that the judge testify next week.

His being appointed to the Waltz case will certainly add a new dimension to the House Judiciary Committee hearing expected early next week.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

During a House DOGE subcommittee hearing on Wednesday morning, a powerful Republican accused National Public Radio of spewing ‘disinformation’ while receiving federal funding.

‘I feel like there’s disinformation every time I listen to NPR,’ House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told the outlet’s CEO Katherine Maher during a congressional hearing.

‘I have a problem with that because you get federal funds,’ Comer added.

‘Because of technology today, I don’t think there is a role for public radio anymore and I think you’ve abused the privilege that you’ve had receiving federal funds.’

Behind Comer were signs showing half a dozen NPR headlines which he claimed were all false.

Greenland’s leadership called Vice President JD Vance and Usha Vance’s changed itinerary to their island visit a ‘masterful spin’ about their true intensions.

‘I have to speak diplomatically here, but in many ways it’s a masterful spin to make it look like they’re escalating when really they’re de-escalating,’ Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Danish broadcaster DR on Wednesday.

But President Donald Trump doubled down on his desire for the island.

‘We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,’ he told podcaster Vince Coglianese. ‘I hate to put it that way, but we’re going to have to have it.’

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) slammed Gabbard, Ratcliffe and the top Trump officials for lying to Americans.

‘The idea that this information if it was presented to our committee would not be classified, you all know is a lie,’ he said. ‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘I’ve seen things much less sensitive presented to us with high classification, and to say that it isn’t is a lie to the country,’ he continued.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

CIA Director John Ratcliffe insists he did not transmit classified information appearing before the House committee.

Ratcliffe said he had included the name of his chief of staff in the chat who was not an undercover operative. He claimed the journalist was trying to mislead in his report where he withheld the name.

‘At the end of the day what was most important was the mission was a remarkable success,’ Ratcliffe insisted.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Himes noted that yesterday Senator Martin Heinrich asked if the Signal chat included weapons packages, timing or targets.

He noted that Kash Patel said not that he was aware of and Gabbard said the same.

Himes then read the message from Hegseth detailing the strike timing that was released this morning.

He asked the witnesses to reflect on their answers.

Patel was quick to note he was not in the Signal group chat.

Gabbard insisted her answer yesterday was based on her recollection or ‘lack thereof’ of the details posted. She also argued she was not directly involved in that part of the Signal chat, basically throwing the defense secretary who sent it under the bus.

Himes asked if in two weeks she had just forgot it was in the chat.

‘I did not recall the exact details,’ Gabbard pushed back.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is plotting how to defund anti-MAGA judges impeding Donald Trump’s agenda.

The powerful Ohio Republican and Trump ally is sick of ‘political’ district judges who are halting executive actions meant to cut government spending, deport illegal aliens and freeze foreign aid.

There have been 15 lower court injunctions that have paused White House initiatives since the beginning of the 78-year-old Republican’s term. That’s more than the entire tenure of Joe Biden, 14, and both of President Barack Obama’s terms combined, 12.

Already over 50 judicial actions nationwide have paused White House initiatives. Trump has decried the judges as ‘radical’ and the injunctions as ‘unlawful.’

‘Everything’s on the table,’ Jordan told DailyMail.com when asked how he may lead a congressional response to district judges’ ‘ridiculous orders.’

He noted that there is already legislation being considered to disarm district court judges and others who may push forward with policy-blocking injunctions. Jordan, 61, also noted that congressional hearings provide opportunities to grill the judges.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

In her opening statement before House members, Tulsi Gabbard added remarks about the Signal leak.

‘It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with high level national security principals having a high-level discussion about an imminent strike against the Houthis and the effects of the strike,’ she said.

Gabbard said the national security adviser has taken ‘full responsibility’ and the National Security Council is conducting an in-depth review along with technical experts to ‘determine how the reporter was added.’

She insisted no classified information was shared or war plans.

She also said it was a ‘standard update’ to the national security Cabinet and was provided alongside updates to foreign partners in the region.

Gabbard the most important thing was the success of the military operation.

She did not include such comments in her opening before the Senate committee yesterday.

Vice President JD Vance weighed in on The Atlantic releasing all of the texts in Signal chat chain on the Yemen bombings.

He claimed editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg ‘oversold’ what he read in the chat.

‘It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had,’ Vance wrote on his personal X account.

He also berated Goldberg for writing in the article that CIA director John Ratcliffe blew the cover of CIA agent. The texts said Ratcliffe named his chief of staff.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

The hearing is now underway with top Trump officials testifying before the House Intelligence Committee.

The hearing is supposed to be an annual assessment of global threats to U.S. national security, but the administration is facing intense criticism over leaking war plans detailing airstrikes in Yemen in a group chat on Signal.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others appear before House members after going before the Senate committee yesterday.

The White House is doubling down on its argument there was no classified material in the Signal text chain on the Yemen bombings that included a reporter.

‘NO WAR PLANS,’ National Security Adviser Mike Waltz wrote on X after The Atlantic released the full text chain.

‘BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests,’ he added.

The full Yemen war plans texted in a group chat between top Trump administration officials over encrypted chat service Signal have been released by The Atlantic.

On Monday, the editor in chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he was added to an unclassified group chat involving several of Trump’s most important cabinet members discussing Yemen war plans.

Withheld from their previous report were any messages about specific timings, weapons or other plans.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Underscoring the whole-of-government approach to addressing the illegal immigration crisis, Housing and Urban Development will no longer fund housing for undocumented people.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced this week an end to publicly-funded housing for illegal immigrants.

Turner revealed there are currently 24,000 ‘ineligible’ people living in HUD housing, to include undocumented immigrants, who will soon be booted from their homes.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel will testify before the House Intelligence Committee today.

It comes the day after the trio appeared by the Senate panel on Tuesday.

The timing of the public hearings meant to provide an update on the state of worldwide threats has turned into a display to grill Trump administration officials on the already-infamous Signal group chat discussing war plans.

Democrats berated Ratcliffe and Gabbard for their participation in discussing over the encrypted communications application plans to bomb Yemen.

Patel largely became a bystander in the Senate hearing.

Donald Trump signed an executive order making radical changes to ensure elections are ‘free, fair, and honest’ and possibly taking millions off the voter rolls.

‘Election fraud, you’ve heard the term,’ Trump said while signing the order, ‘ended, hopefully,’ he continued while he signed the paper with a black sharpie.

‘At least this will go a long way toward ending it,’ the president added, noting the administration is planning further actions regarding election integrity.