Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a former Army intelligence officer, criticized former national security advisor Mike Waltz’s “brazen disregard” for the U.S. military over his use of the Signal group chat to facilitate talk about an attack.
Ryan joined CNN on Thursday, just hours after it was revealed Waltz was removed from his national security position.
The news of Waltz’s ouster came just a day after a Cabinet meeting where a Reuters photographer captured Waltz on his phone using the Signal group chat with messages to several top officials, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President Vance, and others.
“It’s clear when there’s no accountability for what were grave, and thank God not fatal, but certainly, it could have been fatal, leak of sensitive classified information,” Ryan said.
“When there’s no consequences for that, he just continues to double down, triple down on horrible operational security … more than anything, I think, is brazen disregard for our young men and women in uniform and in harm’s way, that he would just make not one, but multiple mistakes with these consequences and be allowed to stay,” he continued.
Waltz was sharply criticized after it was revealed he mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief to a group chat discussing an attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Shock spread across Washington after it was revealed the topic was discussed via Signal, a non-governmental app.
Ryan noted that when the news was shared Waltz was no longer going to be serving as Trump’s national security adviser, he had hope that there may be accountability from the administration about the Signal scandal.
“And a few hours later, we learned it’s somewhere between a promotion to lateral movement,” he said of Waltz’s move. “It’s a $16 million taxpayer funded, luxury condo in New York City.”
“So, I think, at a minimum, there’s no accountability here,” Ryan added.
Later Thursday, Trump announced Waltz to be his next United Nations ambassador after Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) nomination was pulled due to the GOP’s thin majority in the House. Waltz faces an uphill battle being confirmed by the Senate, with many Democrats already noting they would question him sharply over the Signal chat.
The Hill has contacted the White House for comment.
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