The Atlantic Releases Signal Chats By Senior White House Officials
[guest post by Dana]
Today we are now able to see some of those alleged “not classified” messages sent between senior officials on Signal:
The Atlantic released the entire Signal chat among Trump senior national security officials Wednesday, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact times of warplane launches, strike packages and targets — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf of the United States were airborne.
. . .
Hegseth has refused to say whether he posted classified information onto Signal. He is traveling in the Indo-Pacific and to date has only scoffed at questions, saying he did not reveal “war plans.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that it was up to Hegseth to determine whether the information he was posting was classified or not.
One of the messages from Hegseth:
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC” — that is, operational security.
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”
As a reminder: White House spokesperson Karoline Leavett said that:
“No classified material was sent to the thread.”
Additionally, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said this morning when asked by Democrats whether the timing and location of planned military strikes were shared on the chat thread:
“I can attest to the fact that there were not classified or intelligence equities that were included in that chat group at any time.”
Finally, Mike Waltz reassures us:
No locations.
No sources & methods.
NO WAR PLANS.
Foreign partners had already been notified that strikes were imminent.
BOTTOM LINE: President Trump is protecting America and our interests.
While a few Democrats are calling for Hegseth to be fired or resign, Republican Don Bacon is the only Republican thus far to publicly push back against the White House company line:
“The WH is in denial that this was not classified or sensitive data,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a House Armed Services Committee member and former Air Force brigadier general.
Bacon told Axios: “They should just own up to it and preserve credibility.”
And I’ll just leave this here:
The information Secretary of Defense Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat was classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense official and another source who was briefed on the operation.
“It is safe to say… https://t.co/y7gArrI6ca
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) March 26, 2025
Gift article here.
—Dana
Hello.
Dana (633e20) — 3/26/2025 @ 8:34 amAre we conflating “classified” with “confidential” here?
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 8:44 am“Confidential” is the lowest level of classification; but one would expect that attack launch times, weaponry, etc. would require far higher security.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:00 amSome of you demanding that Hegseth be fired are acting like the “act of adding Goldberg to this group chat” got 13 American troops killed while withdrawing from Yemen…and then hellfire-missiled a carload of civilians in retribution…and demanding that someone be fired for it.
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:06 amWaltz should be fired setting up the chat on Signal and including Goldberg; and Hegseth should resign for lying to the American public.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:13 amAnd possibly the President.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:14 amI’ll tell you why Signal is not as secured as people think.
Other than stupidity (ie, adding Goldberg into the chat)…
Signal is absolutely susceptible to phishing attacks. And I cannot imagine how much phishing attacks high level administration faces on day-to-day basis.
Furthermore, using it on personal devices is another vulnerability. The MDM policy can only lockdown the device so much and there are TONS of exploits known/unknown out in the wild.
This is why, in my large healthcare organization, we flat out prohibit things like Signal our our mobile devices because we deal with patient’s PHI and financial data. (we can’t even install/see tiktok for that matter!)
There are other solutions/strategies for this, and frankly, the government should be routinely release different encryption platforms to stay ahead in the information-war space.
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:16 amPeople are serving long prison terms for leaking classified information to unauthorized persons. Being forced to resign would be gift to Waltz and Hegseth. He can always go back to Fox News.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:19 am@8
Yeah, for willfully intending to break the law.
If it was classified, why did Goldberg release it then?
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:22 amFrom Executive Order 13526-Classified National Security Information
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:27 amSince the President, Secretary of Defense, and the Directors of National Intelligence and Central Intelligence all said that there was no classified information discussed in the chat, I assume The Atlantic felt free to publish the chats. However, based on EO 13526 noted above, “military plans, weapons systems, or operations” should be considered classified.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:31 amWhich was said under oath, so there could be problems with that.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:34 amThis is not Valerie Plame 2.0 or Abbygate 2.0 or HRC email server 2.0.
Try to dispassionately assess this situation, and maybe you’ll recognize that this was a staff F-up, but not really a scandal.
It’s between “not great” and “embarrassing”. Or both.
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:34 am@12
I guess what constitutes:
“military plans, weapons systems, or operations”
What does the law say about that? Not what we think it should be…
whembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:36 amThis:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:40 am18 U.S. Code § 798 (Disclosure of classified information) and 18 U.S. Code § 793 (Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information) are quite broad in their coverage regarding how to handle classified information (see here).
Using common sense, and the plain meaning of words, this sure sounds like “military plans, weapon systems, or operations”:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:54 am#4
Whembly,
My beef with Hegseth is his lying about the chat, and pairing that lie with a lot of angry bombast about Goldberg’s lack of credibility. It turns out that, in this case, Hegseth’s lying was easy to prove — which calls into question his judgment. After all, Add to this Hegseth’s prior alleged lack of credibility on other matters — this isn’t somebody who will own up when something has gone wrong and will deflect blame on anyone and everyone. That’s not the right sort of character for SecDef and America would be well advised to cut their losses.
As for Waltz — he should go too. Everyone makes stupid mistakes. But he’s the National Security Advisor — and he’s not really allowed to make a mistake like this.
Appalled (a50afd) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:28 amWembley’s participation in this chat is fantastic. His starting position was thatGoldberg lied and was completely untrustworthy. Now he wants to parse the definition of classified vs confidential.
The fact remains that these completely unqualified clowns discussed timing and specific capabilities of a US military attack hours ahead of that attack on an unsecure system with the editor of the Atlantic included. He can’t dispute that anymore so now he wants to parse words. At some point soon it will move from what is the definition of “is” to this isn’t the worst thing that ever happened so it’s not actually that bad.
He and other maga will stay true to the one underlying principle that they have left. They win. the people they dislike lose. And winning and losing entirely defined by the media conversation in the moment.
This is even better given how passionate he’s been about HRCs horrible and stupid use of a personal email server.
Time (99a6af) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:43 amPeople demanding to fire people they didn’t support in an administration they didn’t support enacting policies they don’t support while also claiming they’d never support anyone willing to work for the administration.
That about cover it.
NJRob (a3f796) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:44 amWhy would Hegseth say “we are currently clean on OPSEC” if the content of their little chat wasn’t classified? I’ve used the word “absurd” here a few times over the last few days, with good reason, because hyperpartisans are in AbsurdTrumpWorld here, telling us down is up, that classified intel isn’t classified, that discussing a war plan isn’t a war plan, that Signal is okay because Biden did something.
Paul Montagu (97a04c) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:45 amTime,
Signal is stupidly approved for use on their phones. Hillary’s server was not.
She got off scot free while her associates got immunity and a grant from the FBI to destroy the evidence of their crimes aka their phones.
So you continue to misrepresent the situations.
NJRob (a3f796) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:45 amThat said, using the app is stupid and shouldn’t be done by any government official even though we know they are all rather take the easy way than the smart way.
NJRob (a3f796) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:47 amThe Tao of the Trump Administration, in a headline (from Politico):
Waltz takes ‘full responsibility’ – and calls Atlantic editor ‘scum’
Appalled (a50afd) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:51 amNJRob, your response is 100% on brand. They’re also allowed to use Twitter. Doesn’t mean it’s remotely appropriate for them to share /the timing of an upcoming military strike/ on their timeline. Which I /think/ you’re smart enough to know, but probably aren’t honest enough to admit.
Time (99a6af) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:59 amBullshyte.
My first comment about this episode was in support of the strike.
I objected to Hegseth as SecDef because he’s unqualified for the job and unqualified on character. All he’s doing now is proving me 100% right, telling America all about his incompetence and shiddy character since Monday.
Paul Montagu (97a04c) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:05 am“I’d be court-martialed for that”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:07 amNo, it doesn’t cover it.
It doesn’t matter what people believe re administrations or individuals who are demanding a firing. It doesn’t matter if they like or dislike, support or don’t support the administration or anyone willing to work for the administration. What matters is: were laws and rules concerning classified material broken. That is not a left or right, us versus them matter. That *you* view it that way only reveals your own partisanship and efforts to blame others for the egregious and careless decisions made by senior Trump officials. It’s your standard M.O. when Trump is guilty of something. Deflect and blame. How about we left politicians take the consequences of their bad decisions. I think if we did, across the board, it would reinforce to them that they can no longer get away with the things they have in the past. And that would be good for all voters.
Dana (91ddac) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:15 amFirst…
There is no doubt that these top-echelon national security lightweights accessed, transmitted and processed non-public DoD information regarding their Houthi small group, so they were violating their own protocols. Putin and Xi have to be smiling about this, and the Europeans that Vance and Hegseth were insulting have to be enraged.
Second, Hillary lost an election in part because she foolishly used a home-brewed server to conduct official business, and then played her usual slimy games of parsing and lying and evading to excuse her bad judgment.
Paul Montagu (97a04c) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:19 amShe may have got off scot free legally, but not politically, because she never became president and she self-destructed her political career.
None of which has to do with Waltz’s or Hegseth’s conduct or statements as it relates to the chat. No one has said here that the Administration shouldn’t have bombed the Houthis (except maybe asset); my only issue is that the Administration hasn’t continued to bombed them again and again since March 16th. Right now it feels like one of Biden’s one-off attacks.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:25 am>Which was said under oath, so there could be problems with that.
There *should be* problems with that, but there is no way that Trump’s DoJ will prosecute.
aphrael (13a689) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:33 amKnives are out, Part II
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 11:34 amHuh, if someone linked to the policy documents for these agencies and those specifically forbade Signal, that would absolutely be the end of it for you?
Ah, Time, myself, Paul, have all linked to specific DoD new employment docs and internal FAQ’s that specifically say Signal is no bueno, and that sharing ANY data on it is cause for termination and civil charges. Confidential and Classified leads to a biggly house.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:02 pm@18
Not even close to the same situation as HRC server.
Nice try though.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:06 pm“Not even close to the same situation as HRC server.”
What’s the difference?
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:09 pmI know. It’s much worse because it shared specific operational details /with the media/ ahead of the operation.
Time (99a6af) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:09 pmSAP Classified info was found on HRC server.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:12 pmRight, it’s worse, live play by play after the kill chain started is betraying your country by your own stupidity is supper bad. Doing it after bictchin about Clinton for 12 years is so much worse.
Immature, ignorant, unqualified.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:17 pm@35
lol. No.
Probably the most charitable I can give Hegseth, is that he probably shouldn’t have included what he did on Signal.
Even though, Waltz mentioned upthread to the participants’ “high side” inboxes, a reference to the classified system. This made it clear they knew certain topics couldn’t be discussed on the Signal platform.
Hegseth was trying to split the baby…engaging the group chat with generalized details, but not specifics.
This is far and away no where as serious as HRC’s homebrew server, because she wanted to prevent her communications to be FOIA’able, while maintaining communications to maximize her foundations profitability, even though she was found to have RE-COPIED highly classified information, including one of the highest categorized Classified setting (SAP).
Waltz deserves the most criticizes to accidently add Goldberg.
HRC didn’t accidently having a homebrew email server.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:19 pmsuper not supper bad. Although I lazily got cheap Pizza Hut yesterday, not good. Always get Dewey’s or Camporosso.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:20 pmThis fiasco invites the memes, like this, and this, and this, or parsing the silliness between “war plans” and “attack plans”.
Paul Montagu (97a04c) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:21 pm@37
I didn’t bring up HRC email saga.
Others did.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:21 pm@27
This is the problem with politics.
There’s zero incentives to say “we screwed up”.
Until that dynamics changes…we’re going to keep seeing wagons circle over everything.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:40 pmBack in the olden days of last second when I had a security clearance, I’d probably get it pulled just for leaking the working group name, add in the other people, fired, content, jailed. All of this is CUI.
All of these folks are the biggest cheerleaders for meritocracy and anti-DEI. There is no way these neurodivergent folks would have their job if not for being DEI hires.
Signal promises privacy, not security.
Also…
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 3/26/2025 @ 12:41 pmYou would think Republicans would have a higher standard.
Rip Murdock (f259db) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:01 pmThan “not Hillary”, which actually is debatable.
Rip Murdock (f259db) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:04 pmNot that I want to get into that ancient history.
Rip Murdock (f259db) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:08 pm>because she wanted to prevent her communications to be FOIA’able
use of time-disappearing signal messages is also preventing communications from being FOIA’able.
this practice should be outright banned.
aphrael (13a689) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:19 pmlike, above and beyond the f*ckup involved in inviting a journalist, and above and beyond the security risk of this kind of detail being discussed on an insecure platform like signal, *no* conversation between government officials which involves discussion of anything government related should *ever* take place on an app where it’s possible to just delete messages.
aphrael (13a689) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:21 pm> You would think Republicans would have a higher standard.
I would have thought that a decade ago. Now, though … there are no standards whatsoever that I can see, beyond “does Trump approve” and “will it piss woke libtards off”.
aphrael (13a689) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:22 pm@47
I agree.
Because its not that great of a “secured” platform imo.
whembly (b7cc46) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:28 pmAt 2 p.m., Waltz responded: “Typing too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”
Too bad for the other folks in that building, eh? I don’t mind killing terrorists, but I think we should stay away from that line ourselves. No concern here for civilian casualties.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:45 pmaphrael (13a689) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:21 pm
Written messages.
For historical reasons, this does NOT apply to voice calls, and as a matter of fact it is totally against public policy to record messages. It is even illegal in DC to record calls without the knowledge of both parties to the call. (in Maryland it is illegal also but only if the person dong the recording was aware of the law.)
Even conversations with foreign leaders are not recorded, (as we saw with the July 35, 2019 call between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky) but an automatic transcript made, which is corrected by people who listened in to the call.
All this because Nixon taped everything, and Kennedy and Johnson some conversations before that.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:45 pmAre we conflating “classified” with “confidential” here?
DO you think that releasing this information a couple hours before the attack might cause serious damage to the United States or it’s personnel? I do, and this is probably why CNN doesn’t go on the air in a lead-up to attacks.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:47 pmIn their testimony yesterday, several high level officials wouldn’t say whether they used personal or official government phones,
The official phones were preloaded with Signal, and presumably have only ROM.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:50 pmSignal is absolutely susceptible to phishing attacks. And I cannot imagine how much phishing attacks high level administration faces on day-to-day basis.
ANYTHING is subject to phishing attacks. All you can ever do is mitigate the risk. Messaging apps cannot have obstructive security or they won’t be used, so there is a limit to mitigation. The government methods more involve fixed locations and sessions, and hardware that is itself secured.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:52 pmThe practice is banned, but the ban was ignored.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:55 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:47 pm
No it won’t. Nobody reacts that fast to new information, and, in addition, in some cases, to get approval to pass it on.
Even Hamas knows that, because it looks like some protest groups had some advance knowledge of the October 7 2023 attacks (Private lawyers are doing a better job of linking them to Hamas than the government is)
https://nypost.com/2025/03/24/us-news/hamas-hostages-families-sue-mahmoud-khalil-anti-israel-groups-for-aiding-and-abetting-terror-group/
https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/us-news/families-of-hamas-hostages-claim-anti-israel-protest-groups-like-columbias-students-for-justice-in-palestine-had-prior-knowledge-of-oct-7-attack-in-bombshell-suit
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 1:58 pmYeah, for willfully intending to break the law.
And also for being dumb. Negligence is criminal here. Letting Goldberg into this chat was grossly negligent. People are felons for simply losing stuff. You really don’t want to read those non-disclosure forms — they have serious teeth.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:03 pmNo it won’t. Nobody reacts that fast to new information, and, in addition, in some cases, to get approval to pass it on.
Tell it to the judge.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:04 pmPresumably because it was cleared for release to give a heads up to certain foreign countries (this fact, even though it is the usual practice, is apparently still classified mainly for diplomatic reasons) before the information was put on the Signal chat.
It is almost a law of nature that information released to certain people cannot help the targets if it comes too close to the time the bombs drop. They’ve got that perfected almost to the pint of a science and Hamas also releases information to its friends in advance (so they can get started quickly)
https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/us-news/families-of-hamas-hostages-claim-anti-israel-protest-groups-like-columbias-students-for-justice-in-palestine-had-prior-knowledge-of-oct-7-attack-in-bombshell-suit/
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:05 pmThis will send Trump through roof:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:05 pmLike I said:
According to the chat, Donald Trump had for some time given himself a 24-hour window to act, which you could call T minus 24 hours and holding
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:09 pmThese types of lawsuits haven’t succeeded at all. The plaintiffs need to prove a nexus which isn’t there.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:09 pm*no* conversation between government officials which involves discussion of anything government related should *ever* take place on an app where it’s possible to just delete messages.
Spoken like a lawyer, not a security professional. Recording stuff like this is mostly useless, except to people who want to second-guess everything and assign blame and don’t much are what a hassle it is for everyone else.
But every recording poses a security problem, so the recording has to be secured and logged, and the log secured and logged and the transcript secured and logged and people assigned to guard the secured repository. Etc.
Something that failed completely as the stored security clearance applications were left wide open to Chinese hackers, because the boss decided not to encrypt. Do you suppose that people could be compromised by their truthful sexual or drug history in the hands of the Chinese MSS?
Nobody was fired there, too. On Obama’s watch.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:14 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:04 pm
Legal and practical considerations are two different things. We should worry about practical, not legal,
Nobody in the Chat group, in almost any conceivable chat group, was on speed dial to the Houthi commanders.
The United States reveals some operational details of attacks a short time in advance to unsecure (or unvetted) sources almost all the time
Now the raid in 2011 on the house where Osama bin Kaden was staying was an exception. The government of Pakistan was not notified. (But John McCain would have done that.)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:14 pm* Something that failed completely at OPM, as the stored security clearance applications were left wide open to Chinese hackers …
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:15 pmNobody in the Chat group, in almost any conceivable chat group, was on speed dial to the Houthi commanders.
Except for the one rando, who could have been anyone.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:16 pm“Willfully” is not the only legal standard; one can be convicted of “negligently” handling classified information. See 18 U.S. Code § 793 – Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information:
My emphasis.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:17 pmviolated federal recordkeeping laws when they used a Signal chat group to discuss a planned military strike in Yemen
The least important aspect of this, by an order of magnitude. When will the legal profession realize they are not the most important people in the room?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:18 pmThere was at least one person who was part of the chat that was unknown to everyone.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:20 pmRip is right. No one who holds a security clearance is unaware of that, either. They may have to sign a copy of several such laws.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:20 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:09 pm
The problem is that the plaintiffs need to prove a nexus which is almost certainly there.
The protesters could not have reacted as fast as they did if someone didn’t have advance knowledge.
The lawyers are relying on discovery, and possibly, future help from the United States government.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:21 pmWhen Congresses stop passing laws and Presidents stop signing them. Until the laws are changed, they need to be enforced.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:21 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:20 pm
But he still was a more or less loyal American citizen and also wary of violating the law.
He was first added to Michael Waltz list of contacts by somebody else. He was identified as someone else, but the telephone number used was that Jeffrey Goldberg, not (probably) United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
This was probably done by somebody on the NSA staff to facilitate undetected leaking to the Atlantic.
Two days later Michael Waltz created his chat group, If “JG” was actually Jamieson Greer with Jeffrey Goldberg’s phone number the leaker or would be leaker got caught by surprise.
Maybe this is related – it does seem to indicate there is leaking to the Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-ukraine-russia-war/681993
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/buzz-saw-pine-forest/681984/
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:33 pmwhembly (2c5586) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:22 am
Because the Administration said it was not, and because, more than a week after the attack, it was of little value to the enemy.
Although it could conceivably help someone “walk back the cat.”
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:39 pmAppalled (a50afd) — 3/26/2025 @ 10:28 am
That would only help the dishonest leaker who added Jeffrey Goldberg’s number to the app. What policy to follow is more important
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:44 pmWhy is he a “more or less” loyal American citizen?
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:46 pmAgain, pure speculation. Waltz has admitted he created the group chat.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:50 pmKevin, I agree other aspects are more important, but deliberately avoiding record keeping requirements is terrible. The people have a right to know what our government is doing, and government officials who are deliberately hiding it from us should be presumed to be acting out of ill ibtent
aphrael (ad556e) — 3/26/2025 @ 2:52 pmShould they also be looking for who stole the strawberries?
Rip Murdock (f259db) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:03 pmdeliberately avoiding record keeping requirements is terrible.
For financial and hiring decisions, sure. But for military engagements it’s not always appropriate. And even for hiring, there are risks that you create, like letting the Chinese look at everyone’s admitted secrets in those OPM files. The intent of those questions is to avoid the black-mail prone and yet their handling was such that it laid people bare to exactly that.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:04 pmThe people have a right to know what our government is doing
In general, sure. In specifics? Do you think that FDR wanted every order he gave to be in the public record? There were sometimes a choice of really bad options where no one in the room would look particularly good. Like discussing whether to bomb Auschwitz.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:07 pmOccam’s Razor: Waltz had Goldberg’s phone number on his phone; but if he admitted it, he would be shoved out door by MAGA true believers.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:18 pmIt’s a good thing he’s been dead for 80 years.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:20 pmBeing a public record doesn’t mean it is immediately available. Many “public” records take years, if not decades, to be released in the public domain.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/26/2025 @ 3:24 pmWhat is Trump guilty of Dana? You’re so focused on attacking him that you cannot accept he wasn’t party to the action in question.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/26/2025 @ 4:18 pmHow about we left politicians take the consequences of their bad decisions. I think if we did, across the board
But it never seems to work that way. The MSM, for example, has an express lane for getting dirt on the Right to the front page. They even cut corners at times, or dump their raw data for the crowd to source. It’s not just Rob that sees this.
But things that hurt the Left? Careful investigation required. Like Biden’s health and awareness, or Hunter’s behavior. Still waiting on the Khalidi tape.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 4:31 pm“What is Trump guilty of Dana?”
– NJ Rob
Selecting unqualified morons to run the most sensitive and dangerous branches of American government, for a start.
But you know that, however deep down your loyalties require you to bury it.
Leviticus (295458) — 3/26/2025 @ 6:17 pmMike walz: I have never met that loser and bum jeffrey goldberg! Oh! You have picture taken of goldberg and me at the french embassy? Never mind.
asset (1690ef) — 3/26/2025 @ 8:34 pmSelecting unqualified morons to run the most sensitive and dangerous branches of American government, for a start.
Good thing they have it out of their system, and they won’t do anything like this again!
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:47 pmBesides, it’s not easy for Trump either. He can only pick people who reject everything we’ve learned since 1933.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/26/2025 @ 9:49 pmI try to pretend to be angry with trump and his crazys ;but its so hard when I see the destruction he has wrought. In the first test a democrat has won a state senate seat in PA. in a heavily republican district that voted for trump by 16% More elections to follow soon!
asset (1690ef) — 3/27/2025 @ 1:18 amBurned:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/27/2025 @ 12:25 pmWho mentioned anything about Israel being the source of that intelligence? Or even if it was good? Or human, rather than electronic? Or primarily in Yemen?
Till this WSJ article, it was assumed it was drones that spotted him. Now it looks like it was only confirmed by drones. Who leaked this complaint?
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 1:32 pmNo discussion has survived. It is kind of mystery except that false reasons were given.
Most likely, FDR was intimidated by Stalin’s and the Communists he controlled, constant calls for a “Second Front” and made a decision not to do anything militarily that didn’t directly help the war effort
And it wouldn’t have been Auschwitz that needed to be bombed. by the train tracks leading to it. In 1944 Adolf Eichmann thought that would happen.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 1:37 pmasset (1690ef) — 3/26/2025 @ 8:34 pm
Four years ago.
https://nypost.com/2025/03/26/opinion/miranda-devine-mike-waltzs-signal-gate-blunder-is-a-hard-lesson-to-be-learned-for-trumps-winning-team
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 2:18 pmLower ranking people wind up getting paralyzed by the security rules they have to adhere to: (and the supposedly super secure government systems have a history of being penetrated)
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/signal-and-the-future-of-national-security-communications-safety-technology-18ca4d5b
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 2:43 pmSteve Witkoff did not carry his personal mobile phone, (which is where he had Signal installed) into Russia but instead used a government su[plied “burner” phone for emergency use, and did not read the Signal chat until he left Russia. This was told by him to the Wall Street Journal and maybe others:
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/steve-witkoff-russia-signal-chat-houthis-pete-hegseth-eb444e61
The WSJ asks thugh why he needed to be included in the first place. Well, it was unknown what would be communicated.
https://nypost.com/2025/03/26/opinion/miranda-devine-mike-waltzs-signal-gate-blunder-is-a-hard-lesson-to-be-learned-for-trumps-winning-team
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 2:55 pm@94 what about the under cover CIA agent named in the chat?
asset (60f62d) — 3/27/2025 @ 2:57 pmJeffrey Goldberg called up the CIA (and others mentined in the Signal chat) and was told he was not undercover (but the CIA did not want his name to become more widely known as being in the CIA incase they wanted him to go undercover abroad in the future) and this is only redaction Jeffrey Goldberg made (his name, which was the only thing exted at that point by John Ratcliffe.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/27/2025 @ 3:16 pmNonsense.
But you know I’m right that’s why you are moving the goalposts.
The hate is strong with you.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/27/2025 @ 4:39 pmNJRob, can you identify anything Trump or his team have done well wrt this mess?
Time (40a46b) — 3/27/2025 @ 4:40 pmGoldberg did not name the CIA officer in the chat, even though DCI Ratcliffe said at the House Intelligence Committee hearing that he was not an undercover officer.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/27/2025 @ 5:20 pm