WATCH: Gabbard sidesteps Trump Cabinet group chat in opening statement of intelligence hearing

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified Tuesday in a hearing on worldwide threats, a day after the revelation that she was reportedly among the senior Trump administration officials discussing sensitive U.S. military attack plans in a Signal app group chat that inadvertently included a journalist.

In her opening statement before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard focused on China, Russia and apprehensions at the U.S. southern border.

“The threats that we see to U.S. national security are both complex and multifaceted and put the lives safety and well-being of the American people at serious risk. As the heads of the American people’s intelligence community, we will continue to provide the president, Congress, and our war fighters with timely, unbiased, relevant intelligence to keep the United States secure, free, prosperous, and at peace,” she said.

Gabbard did not address the text chain, in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen. The chat also included CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who was scheduled to testify in the hearing. They will be joined by FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA Director Timothy Haugh and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse.

In the time since the group chat was reported, national security experts and lawmakers have expressed concern about the major lapse in security. When asked by reporters about the communications around the plans late Monday, Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans.”

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