{"id":2416230,"date":"2025-03-27T06:15:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T10:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-asks-if-hegseth-was-drinking-before-signal-group-chat\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T06:15:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T10:15:40","slug":"democrat-questions-if-hegseth-had-been-drinking-prior-to-the-signal-group-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-questions-if-hegseth-had-been-drinking-prior-to-the-signal-group-chat\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat questions if Hegseth had been &#8216;drinking&#8217; prior to the Signal group chat"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrat-questions-if-hegseth-had-been-drinking-prior-to-the-signal-group-chat%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2416230&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a recent House Intelligence Committee hearing on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/janet-yellen-as-congress-for-billions-to-help-other-countries-debt-relief-climate-change-initiatives\/\" title=\"Janet Yellen As Congress For Billions To Help Other Countries\u2019 \u2018Debt Relief,\u2019 \u2018Climate Change\u2019 Initiatives\">global security threats<\/a>, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) raised questions about Secretary of defense Pete Hegseth&#8217;s drinking habits in relation to a Signal group chat leak. Gomez specifically inquired weather Hegseth had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pays-tribute-to-conservative-teen-cayler-ellington-allegedly-killed-over-politics\/\" title=\"Trump Pays Tribute to Conservative Teen Cayler Ellington Allegedly Killed Over Politics\">consumed alcohol prior<\/a> to leaking classified information. He illustrated his point by referencing a past incident where Hegseth was seen holding an alcoholic drink at a NATO press conference in Europe,implying it might have affected his performance.<\/p>\n<p>Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated she had no knowledge of Hegseth&#8217;s personal habits, while CIA Director John Ratcliffe strongly opposed Gomez&#8217;s probing, calling it offensive and urging teh discussion to remain focused on the original hearing topics. Despite the tension, Gomez persisted, reclaiming his speaking time as the two engaged in a heated exchange.Ratcliffe ultimately urged the Committee to concentrate on the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">intended national security discussions<\/a> instead of personal matters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrat asks if Hegseth &lsquo;had been drinking&rsquo; before Signal group chat leak<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2075149\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>During a House Intelligence Committee hearing on the country&rsquo;s global security threats, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) pivoted the conversation to the Signal group chat controversy. He speculated whether Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s &ldquo;drinking habits&rdquo; were to blame.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While questioning Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe about the incident, Gomez asked if the secretary of defense had any alcoholic drinks before the chat exchange.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3357733\/kirk-cameron-new-children-tv-show-mr-rogers\/\">Kirk Cameron launches new children&rsquo;s TV show: &lsquo;It&rsquo;s Mr. Rogers for our generation&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3360491\/republicans-fret-florida-special-election-mike-waltz-district\/\">Republicans fret about Florida special election in red district: &#8216;Set off alarm bells&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3360495\/senate-conservatives-name-price-debt-ceiling-negotiations\/\">Senate conservatives name their price in debt ceiling negotiations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;The main person who was involved in this thread that a lot of people want to talk to is Secretary of Defense Hegseth, and a lot of questions were brought up regarding his drinking habits in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">confirmation hearing<\/a>,&rdquo; Gomez said, first asking Gabbard the question. &ldquo;To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth&rsquo;s personal habits,&rdquo; Gabbard responded.<\/p>\n<p>Gomez then asked Ratcliffe the same question. The CIA director had a much more fiery response.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;m going to answer that,&rdquo; Ratcliffe fired back. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s an offensive line of questioning. The answer is no. I find it interesting that you want to&hellip;You asked me a question? You want an answer?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gomez then shouted and interrupted Ratcliffe&rsquo;s response. The two men engaged in a hostile exchange. The California congressman then demanded his time back.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Director, I reclaim my time,&rdquo; Gomez repeatedly shouted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Gomez then alluded that Hegseth might have been drinking because of a clip of his previous trip to Europe at a NATO conference in February, in which he accused Hegseth of holding an alcoholic drink while speaking to the media at a press conference. Gomez claimed questions over whether Hegseth was drinking before the Signal group chat incident were &ldquo;on the tops of minds of every American.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He stood in front of a podium in Europe, holding a drink,&rdquo; Gomez said nonchalantly. &ldquo;So, of course, we want to know if his performance was compromised.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ratcliffe responded, dismissing Gomez&rsquo;s concerns and stating the conversation should stick to the original purpose of Wednesday&rsquo;s House Intelligence Committee hearing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting questions about whether or not someone has drinking habits,&rdquo; Ratcliffe replied. &ldquo;And, you know, I just wish in an annual threats hearing, where the American people want to hear about threats, that&rsquo;s what we would be talking about.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2075149\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2075149\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrat questions if Hegseth was drinking before chat leak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2416231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AP25030602360621.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4912,12059,45173,5894,13538],"class_list":["post-2416230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democrat","tag-drinking","tag-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-signal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AP25030602360621.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2416230"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2416234,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416230\/revisions\/2416234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2416231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2416230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2416230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2416230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}