That loud thumping and groaning noise, first heard on Tuesday afternoon and emanating from Capitol Hill, was the sound of Pete Hegseth, US defence secretary, being thrown under the bus.

The bus in question was the US Senate intelligence committee. Those holding Mr Hegseth’s arms and legs and merrily swinging him in the direction of the oncoming juggernaut of questioning over the Signal messaging app security breach, were Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the head of the CIA.

There were so many potential security breaches surrounding the discussion of imminent air strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen it was difficult for the committee to know where to start.

“Are these government devices? Were they personal devices? Have the devices been collected to make sure there’s no malware?” thundered Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the committee.

The government officials looked flustered, obfuscated and took to offering lengthy, rambling go-nowhere points in a desperate attempt to soak up time.