Harold Hutchison
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California clashed Wednesday during a House Intelligence Committee hearing after Gomez asked if Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was intoxicated during a Signal discussion about attack plans against the Houthis.
Top Trump administration officials, including national security advisor Mike Waltz and Hegseth, came under fire after Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a group chat on Signal discussing a retaliatory attack on the Iranian-backed Houthis. Ratcliffe erupted when Gomez questioned if Hegseth had been drinking during that Signal conversation.
“The main person that was involved in this thread that a lot of people want to talk to is Secretary of Defense Hegseth,” Gomez said. “And a lot of questions were brought up about his drinking habits in his confirmation hearing. To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?”
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“I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits,” director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard responded, with Gomez then saying “Director Ratcliffe, same question.”
Hegseth came under fire during his confirmation process for allegedly abusing alcohol during his time as a “Fox and Friends Weekend” host at Fox News, a charge many Fox News personalities and employees disputed on social media.
“You know, no, I’m going to answer that. I think that’s an offensive line of questioning,” Ratcliffe said. “The answer is no.”
Gomez then brought up a debunked claim that had been posted on TikTok about Hegseth drinking alcohol during a press conference, leading to Ratcliffe and Gomez shouting over each other. The Associated Press posted a video of the press conference to YouTube, showing Hegseth drinking water, as opposed to an alcoholic beverage.
“Was his performance compromised by a successful strike?” Ratcliffe asked. “You want to talk about accepting responsibility? Do you think he should accept responsibility for a successful strike to make Americans safer?”
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