Republicans can't stop making pathetic excuses for war chat fiasco

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions. As fury mounts over the Trump administration’s leaking of classified military operations in an unsecure Signal group chat that included a reporter who did not have a security clearance, GOP lawmakers have continued to downplay the seriousness of the situation. The ridiculous defenses—ranging from lies about the contents of the messages to conspiracy theories about how the reporter got added to the conversation in the first place—are even rankling some Trump administration allies , who told Politico that President Donald Trump and his team need to own up to the error, fire those involved, and end the controversy.

But that message has clearly not been heard by congressional Republicans, who are still defending the monumental fuck-up that risked U.S. troops who were carrying out an attack on a rebel group in Yemen—even as more details emerge confirming that classified information was shared on an insecure platform.



Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that he stands by the Trump administration officials who were involved—including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared in the chat the exact timing of the forthcoming attack and the weapons systems that would be used. “President Trump and his team have admitted that having a journalist in the group text was wrong, will be reviewed and falls in the category of ‘lessons learned’ so that it doesn’t happen again.

I think President Trump has handled this matter well. Further, I believe that all the participants in the chat were under the impression they were using an appropriate and secure form of communication. This will also fall into the category of ‘lessons learned,’” Graham said in a statement.

He ended with, “I continue to support all members of President Trump’s national security team. Lessons learned.” Similarly, Rep.

Maria Elvira Salazar, Republican of Florida, said in an appearance on CNN that this was just an honest mistake made by rookie administration officials who didn’t know any better than to share classified information on a text chat including a reporter. "Remember, they're just starting in the job. This game just started.

Let's see how they do the next two years, and then we can judge them. But not because of one mistake that they put a reporter—maybe they made a mistake and they put that ..

. listen, those that do not have any sins, they can throw the first stone,” she said. x x YouTube Video GOP Sen.

Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has become a regular in this series for saying idiotic things, said that anyone could have made the same mistake. “We all make mistakes. I don't know how it happened.

It might have been a communication problem with somebody in the communications department," Tuberville told CNN, saying that there shouldn't be any investigations. x x YouTube Video Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson said the blunder is not a fireable offense, which he certainly would not be saying had this been done by Democratic administration officials. "I don't think someone should have lost their job over that because an errant number found their way onto a dialogue," Johnson said during a news conference on Tuesday.

True to form, GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio lied about the war plans leak entirely. "The signal chat didn’t contain classified information.

Terrorists were killed. Americans are safer," Jordan wrote on X . And while Republican Sen.

Ted Cruz of Texas admitted on his podcast that the Signal chat was "a huge screwup," he then downplayed the seriousness of it. “It’s sort of comparable to a butt dial,” he said. I don’t know about you, but when I accidentally butt dial someone, they usually just hear me telling my kids to put on their shoes, not spilling classified intel that could get people killed.

Ultimately, while Republicans shirk their responsibility to investigate the obvious security failure and to hold the Trump administration accountable, Democrats are filling that void. For example, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding answers to what he described as “one of the most humiliating and dangerous national security breaches in modern American history—one that put the lives of American service members and intelligence officers carrying out military operations abroad at risk and a rupture in national security protocol that almost certainly violates federal criminal and civil statutes.

” In the letter, Raskin demanded to know if there is an FBI investigation into the security breach, if there have been other instances of classified information being discussed in improper settings, and if the Trump administration is using Signal to conduct other official matters. And in a letter to Trump, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history” Hegseth to be removed from his administration. “His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law,” he wrote.

“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately.” Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything.

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