SPECIAL NOTICE: Call your Senators Today
Resignations are in order. (No, not theirs.)
This is what happens when people who are unprepared and unqualified are appointed to high level positions within the government.
Of course government officials need to understand and obey the rules for secure communications. We expect no less. And so, there must be accountability for any people who intentionally or carelessly violate the rules.
The SIGNAL chat group ultimately consisted of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and, as you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, the Editor in Chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. There were others, but Goldberg declined to name at least one of them because of the sensitive nature of their identity given the position they hold in government.
Signal is not a secure, approved means of what is referred to in the government as “high side” communication for classified or sensitive information. Goldberg reported on the texts he received after he was invited to join the chat. While he was trying to decide if the group was an attempt to punk him or something legitimate, he received messages including information about timing, targeting, and targets of a possible U.S. attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. When the attack materialized on schedule over the weekend, he understood that he had somehow been added to a chat among principals.
The people who lead our military and intelligence communities have an obligation to the people who put themselves at risk to keep our nation secure. That’s true no matter which party is in office. If the officials responsible for this debacle and the president they serve are inclined to just wave it off, it is up to Congress to protect the men and women who serve all of us, and who deserve better than this.
The Trump Administration Texted Me Its War Plans (The Atlantic - this is behind a paywall)
Top Trump Officials Mistakenly Divulged Military Plans to Journalist (Reuters)
Trump officials texted attack plans to a group chat in a secure app that included a journalist (AP)
These guys. These guys. Such incompetence is unforgivable.
Disregarding warnings that the Signal app is not secure, they used it on their personal phones to circumvent the laws that require the government to use secure communication and retain all records of communications.
They set the communications to erase themselves in 7 - 21 days (depending on the text).
They invited a non-government employee into the chat and didn’t confirm that everyone on the chat had security clearance.
Every single one is a clear and present danger to our country.
Every single one should have resigned immediately.
Nothing will happen if we don’t make this as big an issue as any question about Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
Please call your Senators today and tell them you want them to:
Hold a press conference. Use Social Media. Hold a committee hearing. Hold a town hall. And then another.
Call out their GOP colleagues on all platforms for their votes to confirm Hegseth, and all these other clowns.
Invite the generals. Invite the veterans. Invite every person who has taken an oath to safeguard the security of our nation. Have them speak out. Witness the breech of law and duty. No double standard. No excuses.
Do this every day until there is action that removes them from office.
Call both Senators
SENATOR ALEX PADILLA
DC phone: (202) 224-3553
SF phone: (415) 981–9369
SENATOR ADAM SCHIFF
DC phone: (202) 224-3841
The incompetence is unacceptable. They disregarded the law. That's a crime.
I am calling the White House too. Our Senators NEED the calls, but they are on board. The WH needs enough calls to cringe--even though he will not acknowledge them.