'Y'all know that is a lie': Dem lawmaker puts Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe on the spot

Sen. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) came down hard on witnesses testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday who still refused to call the information leaked through a Signal group chat "classified."

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and director of the National Security Agency Timothy Haugh answered the Senate's questions Wednesday, a day after the House Intelligence Committee demanded answers.

Ever since The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published his story about the sensitive "war plans" detailing a bombing run on Yemen that he witnessed after being mysteriously added to the group chat, the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers have maintained that the information was not classified and that Goldberg was perpetuating a "hoax."

Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who's in the middle of the scandal, wrote on social media, "We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes."

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During Wednesday's Senate hearing, Castro asked General Haugh, "If your organization, your agency, intercepted something like this from Russia or China or some other country, would you consider this classified information?"

"We would classify based off of our sources and methods," the general answered.

When Castro pressed him, Haugh reiterated, "It would be classified based off of our collection. Based off of the protection of our own source and method, not necessarily based off the content, but how we collected that information."

"But, it would be classified," Castro shot back.

"We certainly wouldn't be collecting on a U.S. person conversation — "

"No, I understand," Castro said, growing frustrated. "But if you did your job and collected it from the Russian Foreign Ministry and the national security advisor and the secretary of defense and the president's chief advisor — there is no way — no way, having sat on this committee for nine years, that somebody would come in with that information and give us something that says 'unclassified — you can walk out of this room with this information and give it to whomever you want.'"

Castro continued, "You know, with all respect — you and I worked on the committee at the same time. Tulsi, you and I came in together. We've never had, I've never had an issue or beef with you. John, you and I are both from Texas — y'all know that's a lie. it's a lie to the country."

Watch the clip below via CNN or click here.