Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) on Thursday defended asking at a congressional hearing whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was drinking before sharing military attack plans in a Signal group chat of top-level national security officials, which mistakenly also included a prominent journalist. In an interview with CNN anchor John Berman, Gomez said he asked about the secretary’s drinking habits because Hegseth sending the plans “doesn’t make sense” and he wanted to understand better why Hegseth did it. Gomez said he did not have any independent knowledge that would suggest Hegseth was drinking that day. “It was a question that I wanted to ask because what's going on — what happened — doesn't make sense, at any level,” Gomez told Berman. The message Hegseth sent to the Signal group chat several hours ahead of a U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen included information about timing and weapons. The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently included in that chat, which apparently was created by national security adviser Mike Waltz. “Here's the fact,” Gomez said. “The decision for him to put war plans on a Signal chat that's not secure, hours before the operation, risked lives.” “So, one, you either don't know that it's not a secure app. Two, you don't know that the Chinese and Russians are on your phone. Three, you don't care,” Gomez added. “Or four … somehow, your inhibitions were lowered, and your decisionmaking was compromised,” he continued. “I just need to try to find out what's the fact because our men and women deserve better.” At the House Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats assessment hearing on Wednesday, Gomez asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — both of whom were in the Signal group chat in question — whether they know “whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information.” The question provoked an angry response from Ratcliffe: “That’s an offensive line of question. The answer is, no.” Gabbard said she doesn’t “have any knowledge” of Hegseth’s “personal habits.” Hegseth's drinking habits had been the topic of intense scrutiny during his confirmation process, and Gomez said the topic was top of mind for constituents. He also said in the Thursday interview that the administration’s response to the Signal leak story has been inconsistent, and he speculated, without evidence, whether Trump administration officials were “trying to cover” for Hegseth. “They first denied that it occurred. Then they said, 'No, it's not classified information. That wasn't released.' Then … all of a sudden, the screenshots of the conversation were released,” Gomez said. “So none of this makes sense,” he continued. “It doesn't pass the smell test. They're trying to cover for Secretary Hegseth, and it's shameful. They should just be straight and stop lying to the American people.” ...read more read less