Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) caused a stir at a House committee hearing on Wednesday when he raised questions about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s drinking habits, leading to strong reactions from Republican intelligence leaders.
The hearing, focused on the annual worldwide threats assessment, had already been scheduled before The Atlantic reported a security breach involving Trump administration officials. The breach occurred when they mistakenly included a reporter in a Signal chat about military strikes in Yemen.
Despite the leak being a major issue, the conversation quickly shifted to Hegseth’s personal habits.
Gomez asked, “A lot of questions were brought up regarding his drinking habits at his confirmation hearing. To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard responded, “I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits.”
When CIA Director John Ratcliffe was asked the same question, he was visibly annoyed, replying, “No, you know, no. I’m not going to answer that. I think that’s an offensive line of questioning. The answer is, no.”
Gomez, undeterred, defended his inquiry, claiming it was a legitimate concern for the public. “I have huge respect for the CIA, huge respect for men and women in uniform. But this was a question that’s on the top of minds of every American. He stood in front of the podium in Europe holding a drink. So, of course, we want to know if his performance is compromised.”
Ratcliffe, frustrated by the direction of the discussion, pushed back on focusing on personal issues rather than national security threats. “We’re getting questions about whether or not someone has drinking habits. And, you know, I just wish in an annual threats hearing, where the American people want to hear about threats, that that’s what we would be talking about,” he said.
Tulsi Gabbard also came to Hegseth’s defense, emphasizing his commitment to national security. “Secretary Hegseth, in my experience, has continued to operate in the way that President Trump’s confidence in him inspires, which is in the best interest of the American people and our war-fighters and ensuring our national security. I think it’s wrong to impugn him, especially at a point where he is not here to defend his own honor,” she said.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) later criticized the intelligence leaders for dismissing the topic of the Signal chat.
“I find it offensive for you to accuse me, as a Democrat, of not caring about national threats. I very much wanted to talk about those. In fact, I had prepared questions in advance of this hearing about those threats, specifically about biosecurity and bioterrorism, but I don’t have time to ask those questions,” she said. “I need to ask these questions. It’s my job to ask these questions of you.”
Watch the exchange in the clip below:
Gomez: Do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?
Gabbard: I don’t have any knowledge of his personal habits.
Ratcliffe: That’s an offensive line of questioning pic.twitter.com/T5OyMvDUEg
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 26, 2025
