Senator King Questions Intel Officials on Leaked War Plans and Climate Change Omission

Leaked War Plans and Classification Concerns

• ❓ Senator Angus King questioned Director Gabard regarding a detailed operation plan, including targets, weapons, and timing, allegedly posted in a group text by Secretary HTH on March 15th.
• ⚠️ Despite the detailed nature of the alleged text, Director Gabard testified that no classified or intelligence equities were included in the chat.
• 🗣️ King expressed disbelief that targets and timing would not be considered classified and requested the release of the full text stream for public review.

Omission of Climate Change as a National Security Threat

• 🌡️ Senator King noted the absence of global climate change as a national security threat in the latest annual report, a topic consistently included in the prior 11 reports.
• 🎯 Director Gabard stated the current assessment focused on critical direct threats to the United States, while acknowledging environmental impacts on operations.
• ❓ King pressed on who made the decision to exclude climate change, to which Gabard responded that the focus was on the most extreme and critical threats, but did not recall instructing its exclusion.

Cybersecurity Threats and CISA Deconstruction

• 💻 The report repeatedly highlights growing cyber threats from China, Russia, and Iran, including those targeting elections.
• 📉 King questioned the administration's decision to deconstruct CISA, reduce its staff, and undermine its relationships with states and the private sector regarding cybersecurity.
• 🤷 Officials stated they had no insight into specific staffing decisions at CISA.
• 🤔 King asked if diminishing capacity to deal with cyber issues is in the national interest, to which one official responded that the focus is on effects and efficiency, not necessarily more people.