Thread by @lrozen

🧵Sen. Angus King: something you said has sort of puzzled me. …on the morning of March 15, Sec. Hegseth put into this group text a detailed operation plan, inc. targets, the weapons we were going to be using, attack sequences and timing.

King: And yet, you've testified that nothing in that chain was classified. Wouldn't that be classified?

Gabbard: Senator, I can attest to the fact that there were no classified or intelligence equities that were included in that chat group at any time.

King: the attack sequencing and timing and weapons and targets you don't consider to should have been classified?

Gabbard: I Defer to the Secretary of Defense & the National Security Council on that question.

King: Well, you’re the head of the intelligence community. You're supposed to know about classifications.

King: So your testimony v clearly today is that nothing was in that set of texts that was classified...If that's the case, please release that whole text stream so that the public can have a view of what actually transpired…hard for me to believe that targets, timing &weapons not classified

King: 1 note that surprised me. My 13th year on this comm… Every single one of these reports that we have had has mentioned global climate change is a significant national security threat, except this one. Has…global climate change been solved?

Gabbard: this annual threat assessment has been focused very directly on the threats that we deem most critical to the United States & our national security. Obviously, we're aware of occurrences within the environment & how they may impact operations, but we're focused on the direct threats of American safety, well being & security.

King: How about how they will impact mass migration, famine, dislocation, political violence, which is the finding by the way, of the 2019 annual Threat Assessment under the first Trump administration?

Gabbard: Being aware of of the environment that we're operating in is a given. What I focused this annual threat assessment on..are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security.

King: Let me ask a direct question: who decided climate change should be left out of this report after it's been in the prior (11, check transcript) years?

Gabbard evasive: “I gave direction to our team at ODNI to focus on the most extreme and critical national security threat.”

King: did that Direction include no comments on climate change?

King: Did you instruct that there be no finding in terms of climate change in this report?

Gabbard: “I don't recall giving that instruction.”
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