Sen. Mark Kelly shocks at Senate Intelligence hearing, presents receipts suggesting Trump is selling ‘private’ national security briefings
On Thursday, Democrat Senators took turns grilling United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe about the Iran war. While the line of questioning focused primarily on this topic, Gabbard and Ratcliffe were occasionally asked about other subjects, such as Donald Trump’s corrupt practices in government.
A particular moment that has been gaining significant attention online, especially on X (formerly Twitter), involves Senator Mark Kelly asking Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe to confirm whether they had seen the circular Trump sent to his donors, promising them access to classified briefings. Both Gabbard and Ratcliffe said they weren’t aware of such a document, while refusing to hold Trump accountable for any wrongdoing and instead defending him, as expected.
Senator Kelly presents evidence that doesn’t look good for Trump
During Thursday’s Senate hearing, Senator Mark Kelly brought out a piece of paper, a document that had been made public six days earlier. It featured a fundraising email from President Donald Trump with multiple donation links. Kelly pointed out that the email mentioned that, as members of the national security briefing, the donors would receive Trump’s private national security briefings.
Kelly then asked Gabbard and Ratcliffe, “Director Gabbard or Director Ratcliffe, do you think the public should be able to, supporters of the president should be able to pay and receive his private national security briefings? I assume these are briefings, Director Ratcliffe, that you provide to the president.” Before Kelly could finish his question, Ratcliffe cut him off, saying he was unaware of the contents of the documents. He stated that the incident never occurred and that the Hatch Act would prevent him from getting involved in such matters.
Tulsi Gabbard mostly maintained silence on the topic
After John Ratcliffe denied any wrongdoing by Trump regarding his offering classified briefings to donors, Tulsi Gabbard also denied any misconduct. After Mark Kelly finished criticising Ratcliffe over Trump, he turned to Gabbard for answers on the same topic, but unfortunately, she provided none. Turning to Gabbard, Kelly said, “This says unfiltered updates. So, Director Gabbard, do you have any comment on whether unfiltered updates of private national security briefings should be made to individuals that donate to the president?”
Gabbard echoed Ratcliffe’s words and said she wasn’t aware of any such document, to which Kelly responded that the document had been made public six days earlier and offered to send her a copy if she wished to see it. Kelly also said he agrees with Ratcliffe that the Hatch Act should prevent government officials from engaging in such conduct.
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