Leaders of US intelligence agencies have rejected claims of security breach after the Trump team inadvertently leaked to a journalist details of highly sensitive plan to strike Houthi rebels military sites in Yemen, with Democrats saying it demonstrates sloppy conduct that would often result in firings.
Democrats have said the leaked military plans in a Signal group message that included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, show a sloppy disregard for security.
During heated questions from Senator Mark Warner, D-Virginia, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said there’s a difference between "inadvertent" releases of information and intentional leaks.
"There was no classified material that was shared," Gabbard said.
Warner, however, said that if a lower ranking officer had texted similar secret plans, "They would be fired."
Meanwhile, Representative Don Bacon said on Tuesday he would defer to the White House on whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or National Security Adviser Michael Waltz should face repercussions over the leak.
"But I think we should be critical," he said.
"The fact that classified information was put on an unclassified system, I think the secretary of defense needs to answer for that," Bacon added.
He dismissed the need for an Armed Service investigation, simply because the facts were apparent.
Bacon also called the White House’s saying that no war plans were shared "baloney."
"They ought to just be honest and own up to it," Bacon said.
Bacon served nearly thirty years on active duty in the US Air Force, specializing in electronic warfare and intelligence.
On Tuesday, President Trump and the White House shrugged off security concerns from the leaks.
Trump, who took office in January, told NBC News in a phone call that it was "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one," adding his national security advisor Michael Waltz had "learned a lesson."