U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan joined other Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday in harshly criticizing Trump Administration officials over the texts concerning military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen that were included in a group chain that was held on an unsecured messaging app, Signal.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was also added in the group, and published a story about the use of Signal by officials to discuss the military operation earlier this month. On Wednesday his publication released more details from the chats, showing the level of detail they offered about the strikes.

Democrats have demanded an investigation into the sloppy communication, saying it may have exposed sensitive military information that could have jeopardized the mission or put U.S. service members at risk.

Houlahan, D-6th, of Easttown, whose district includes all of Chester County and southern Berks County, and other Democrats at Wednesday’s hearing lamented that their obligation to probe the group chat incident had prevented them from spending their limited question time on the intended subject of the hearing: the intelligence community’s assessment of the gravest national security threats facing the nation, according to published reports.

Houlahan blasted CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who confirmed he was on the chat, for suggesting Democrats were putting politics before national security by focusing on the discussion of airstrikes on Signal.

“I find it offensive for you to accuse me, as a Democrat, of not caring about national threats,” Houlahan said, according to a video of the hearing.

“I very much wanted to talk about those threats and had prepared questions about those threats,” she said. “But I don’t have time to talk about those questions because the threat is in the house. The threats is across the dais.

“It’s my job to ask these questions because when I served in the military, and I served in classified environments, had this happened to me, I would have walked my resignation in immediately.”

Houlahan served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and in the reserves from 1989 until leaving as a captain in 2004.

“Communicating these sorts of things in Signal is not ok,” Houlahan added. “Targets, times, those kinds of things are absolutely classified, and we all know it. I know it. These people know it. You all know it.”

Houlahan’s frustration then erupted when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reiterated an earlier claim that she was not in a position to comment on the appropriate classification for the information shared over the Signal chat because it fell under the purview of the Defense Department’s classification guidance.

“This chat did not have the auspice of being a DoD chat,” Houlahan said in exasperation, waving her hand, referring to the Department of Defense, according to a published report of the encounter. “There’s no such thing as labeling it as DoD.” She added that Gabbard, under U.S. law, has “an obligation, when you think there has been a tangible, significant leak of information, to instigate an investigation.”

On the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Houlahan also called into question the actions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who led the group discussion on Signal but who has deflected criticism of the matter.

“This stunning lack of operational security by @SecDef is just another illustration of his gross incompetence,” she said in her post. “He’s a danger to the nation and our troops, here and abroad.

“I want an immediate explanation of how this happened and a clear understanding of all the laws broken. I believe the classified information shared in this Signal chat is in direct violation of the Espionage Act, and action by Congress is required.”

Gabbard said Wednesday it was a “mistake” for national security officials to discuss sensitive military plans on a group text chain that also included a journalist — a leak that has roiled President Donald Trump’s national security leadership.

Speaking before committee, Gabbard said the conversation included “candid and sensitive” information about military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. But as she told senators during testimony on Tuesday, she said the texts did not contain any classified information.

“It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added,” Gabbard said.

The National Security Council has said it will investigate the matter, which President Trump on Tuesday downplayed as a “glitch.”  Goldberg said he received the Signal invitation from Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who was in the group chat and has taken responsibility for the lapse.

Wednesday’s hearing was called to discuss the intelligence community’s annual report on threats to American national security. The report lists China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as strategic adversaries, and notes that drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations pose other threats to Americans.

The presentations from top Trump appointees reflect Trump’s foreign policy priorities, including a focus on combating the flow of fentanyl, illegal immigration and human trafficking, and are taking place as Trump attempts to work out a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine three years after Russia’s invasion.

This story contains information from the Associated Press.