By Jason Renard Walker

Editor – in – chief for The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently invited into the group chat texting app ‘Signal’ by U.S National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, which top U.S. officials were using to plan an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Among the 18 officials involved in the chat were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Upon receiving the invitation via cellphone in a grocery store parking lot, Goldberg assumed it was a spoof. He observed the exchanges made between March 11 and March 15, leading up to Hegseth announcing the time bombs would be dropped, two hours before they actually were.

After Goldberg confirmed that Houthi rebels in Yemen had been bombed the exact time the text promised, he contacted his group for advice on how to move forward, since the discussion had obvious top-secret implications. He removed himself from the chat and contacted Waltz to inform them of the breach. He eventually wrote an article, accusing the officials of disclosing war plans in a group chat that he was invited to.

Hegseth denied the claim that they were using Signal to discuss plans to bomb Houthi. He suggested that Goldberg was an unreliable journalist that has a history of creating hoaxes and shouldn’t be believed.

Following a congressional hearing on global threats, in which several officials admitted Goldberg was invited into the group chat, Hegseth could no longer deny Goldberg’s claim, so he started attacking Goldberg’s wording, denying the severity of the matter, stating “They know it’s not war plans. There’s no units. No locations. No routes. No flight paths. No sources. No methods. No classified information.”

Waltz did the same by telling Donald Trump “This journalist, Mr. President, wants the world talking about more hoaxes and this kinda nonsense, rather than the freedom that you’re enabling.”

During the congressional hearing Gabbard doubled down on the security threat concern they caused, stating “the information was candid and sensitive, but as the president and National Security Advisor stated, no classified information was shared.”

When asked a similar question Ratcliffe said “I used an appropriate channel to communicate sensitive information. It was permissible to do so. I didn’t transfer any classified information.” When asked if using Signal was a mistake, he said no.

When Trump was asked to comment on the security breach, he denied knowledge that it occurred and distanced himself from it, stating “I don’t know, I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask the various people involved. I really don’t know.” Despite his supposed ignorance Trump tried to downplay the breach by disparaging Goldberg, claiming no classified information was leaked, the attack was a success and called the ordeal a witch hunt.

But little does the Republican party know the people aren’t stupid.

What they said on Signal is the kind of internal conversation that normally takes place in the situation room and other secure locations, far beyond a reporter’s reach, that prohibits the possession of any electronic devices.

During his decision to release the texts, Goldberg wrote in an article “Statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump — combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the contents of the signal texts — have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.”

Two weeks before the breach, the National Security Agency issued a memo warning officials that due to its popularity Signal could be a “High value target to intercept sensitive information.” In 2016 the Director of National Intelligence declassified a brief that details what information should be treated classified. In regard to planned attacks it says “Any information about planning an attack should remain Top Secret for at least 25 years.”

To go further, a 2025 Department of Defense manual states that anything related to military plans, weapons systems, or operations are the first to be called classified. So it is very obvious that mentioning the time bombs would be deployed, method of destruction, and plane type that would be used to carry out the attack, should have been classified information, regardless of what the Trump administration says. Even Nebraska Rep Don Bacon (R) agrees that the information in the group chat should have been classified.

As Secretary of Defense, Hegseth was the official in the group chat responsible for ensuring that whatever military related issues being discussed, weren’t issues his own department deemed classified. Even then, being the ‘original classifying authority’ does not give him leeway to break protocol simply because he, or some other agent, doesn’t personally believe that the information being shared needs to be classified. Which is what seemed to have occurred.

Not only did Hegseth fail to brief Trump that attack plans would be discussed over their cellphones, he also failed to brief Trump that four troops went missing in Lithuania, which is his job. According to Trump he wasn’t aware of either event until the media asked him to comment. But Hegseth was supposedly sworn in as Secretary of Defense because he had merit.

What we must not do is allow the Trump administration to con us into believing that no classified information was shared, the breach was harmless, the actors are qualified to execute their duties, and we all need to move on. A lot of action and focus should go towards getting Hegseth, Waltz and the others out of positions of power.

No one publicly apologized to the pilots launching the attack, or to the public for the breach. Waltz is actually trying to make concerned people feel bad for wanting to get to the bottom of this, by ignoring it to praise Trump for committing a legal drive – by bombing. They haven’t shown any remorse, nor should we expect this to be the last time they put innocent people’s lives in danger for the almighty dollar.

This situation is far beyond a Democrat’s hoax or conspiracy to throw dirt on the republican party, like some suggest. This was a very grossly negligent act by some of the highest bodies in the Administration, who have shown to be among the most incompetent, that could’ve cost American people their lives. It is very possible that they’ve been using Signal to discuss other classified matters; it took the integrity of a journalist to expose that having them in leadership positions pose an ongoing threat to national security.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already declined to investigate the breach to see if it violates any civil or criminal laws, so don’t expect to see any resignations or reprimands. Since the Republican party and its affiliates are Trump loyalists, the narrative that no classified material was shared will be enough to find no wrong doing after their own agencies investigate themselves. And with Elon Musk being in charge of looking into how Goldberg was included in the Group chat, don’t be surprised with what that conclusion will be.

This is what happens when an incompetent dictator becomes president and haphazardly selects members to fill his cabinet based on their loyalty to him, while lying to voters that his selections will be based on merit. Even a qualified low-ranking official knows not to use an unauthorized group chat app to relay messages of Top Secret dimensions.

We are witnessing the consequences of a second Trump presidency. This is not the time to regret voting him in, but a time to correct the mistake by getting him out.

Jason Renard Walker 1532092

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