'I don't want to argue': MAGA lawmaker tap-dances away from questions on war chats
CNN's John Berman expressed skepticism toward a Republican congressman's defense of the controversial Signal chat currently roiling Donald Trump's presidency.
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) appeared Thursday on "CNN News Central," where he praised the administration's response after national security adviser Mike Waltz added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat where defense secretary Pete Hegseth revealed sensitive plans for a military operation in Yemen.
"Well, I think we've got accountability occurring because Mike Waltz came out and stated that, the national security advisor, that he takes responsibility," Meuser said. "By the way, those were words that were never uttered during the course of four years with the Biden administration. So there is accountability. It was, quite frankly, John, a mistake, but a pretty minor one."
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He compared the outcry over the Signal chat to the secrecy around former defense secretary Lloyd Austin's hospital stay in 2024 and the deaths of 13 service members during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, and he said the response to the recent scandal was "ridiculous" in comparison.
"You brought up former defense secretary Lloyd Austin," Berman said, "and your first reference to him was about his prostate surgery, which was information about it was withheld. He went and testified before Congress about that. He had to face questions from you all about that, and he apologized, and, you know, and that was a screw-up and he did admit it was a screw-up ... So what I'm saying is, you're the one who brought up that standard. So then are you supportive of Pete Hegseth coming before Congress soon answering questions about this?"
Meuser expressed confidence that Hegseth would face lawmakers, saying Republicans were "transparent," but he also minimized the facts in the case.
"First of all, he had very little to do with this," Meuser said. "Look, it was a signal. it is an encrypted, usable government tool."
In fact, the Pentagon issued a warning to all employees last week against using Signal, saying the app was not secure enough for government communications, and Berman pointed out that Hegseth led the group chat and disclosed sensitive information about the operation.
"Pete Hegseth is the one who posted the time that bombs were going to fall," Berman said. "He had a little bit to do with it."
Meuser didn't see what a problem with what he did and blamed Goldberg for inadvertently being included.
"Well, he was sharing information that he believed was a very closed group that he felt needed to know that information, and that was stated," Meuser said. "He had no idea some rogue reporter was was somehow placed on there. But you know what? They're getting to the bottom of that, they got their best and the brightest, as you probably know, looking into how he got on there."
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has called for an independent investigation, and Berman asked whether Meuser did, as well.
"Independent investigation," Meuser said, cocking his head in disbelief. "Independent investigation? People are saying independent."
Berman pointed out that Wicker, a Republican senator, had called for one, not him.
"I'm just asking, I'm just asking you if – I don't think he's calling for a special counsel," Berman said, as Meuser attempted to talk over him. "I think he's calling for an inspector general investigation. Would you like to see an inspector general investigation?"
"John, I don't want to argue with you," Meuser said. "I'd rather just present the truth and the facts and look at this thing in a fair way. When we've had again, Afghanistan, when we had the president say, 'Oh, if Putin goes into the Ukraine, it'll just be a minor skirmish.' I mean, that was a green light to Putin when we had so many different mistakes made over the years, and none of these folks said a word, and now all of a sudden, you got people in your network, Chris Hayes saying, this is the worst intelligence breach in the history of our country."
Hayes hosts a show on MSNBC, not CNN, and Berman pointed that out.
"He's not on my network, first of all," Berman said.
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