Democrat Asks Intel Leaders If Pete Hegseth May Have Been Drinking Before Signal Chat

WASHINGTON ― Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) got into a shouting match with CIA director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday after asking if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have been drinking before he used the third-party messaging app Signal to share war plans with national security officials ― and accidentally let a journalist into the group chat.

Before being confirmed, Hegseth faced numerous allegations of excessive drinking, sometimes at work.

“To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?” Gomez asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, one of several national security leaders testifying before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits,” she replied.

Ratcliffe erupted when Gomez directed the same question to him.

“I think that’s an offensive line of questioning,” he said. “The answer is no, I find it interesting that you want to—”

“I yield back,” Gomez interrupted. “It’s my time, director.”

“You asked me a question. Do you want an answer?” Ratcliffe shouted. “You don’t want to focus on the good work that the CIA is doing? That the intelligence community—”

“I reclaim my time!” Gomez forcefully responded. “I have huge respect for the CIA, huge respect for our men and women in uniform. But this was a question that’s on the top of minds of every American.”

The California Democrat referenced reports of Hegseth allegedly drinking alcohol during a NATO press conference in February: “He stood in front of a podium in Europe holding a drink, so of course we want to know if his performance is compromised!”

Ratcliffe later complained that Democrats only want to talk about the stunning security breach on Signal ― when Hegseth and top national security officials accidentally included a journalist in a classified war planning discussion on the third-party messaging app ― and don’t care about “the good work” of the CIA.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an Air Force veteran, chastised Ratcliffe for his comments, saying she had lots of questions she wanted to ask about the CIA’s work but now had to use her limited time addressing the Signal breach.

“I find it offensive for you to accuse me, as a Democrat, of not caring about national threats,” she told the CIA director.

Houlahan said she served in classified environments in the military, and had she been involved a security breach like what Hegseth just did on Signal, she would have walked in her resignation immediately.

“This is not OK,” she told Ratcliffe.

“The fact that we’re having to have these conversations now means that I can’t ask the questions I need to ask about things like biosecurity,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat. “So I’d like to put you in check as well, sir, because you can’t assume who I am any more that I can assume who you are.”