Damage from Signal case hard to assess
Stealth nature of hacking raises many questions
By: Joey Meyer
USA Today
WASHINGTON - It's one of the oldest rituals in the nation's capital: People screw up, one is lauded for valiantly taking responsibility, blame is deflected and investigations are launched. Then everyone moves on.
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But not this time - at least, according to congressional Democrats. There are too many outstanding questions emerging - involving to many powerful people - for that to happen.
..... That's shorthand for the security breach by top Trump administration officials who gathered in an encrypted but unsecured commercial messaging app earlier this month [03/2025] to discuss active operational military plans and operation while a journalist watched after ahivng been 'inadvertently" invited.
...... Chief among the questions: Who, exactly, is to blame? Was classified information discussed via the Signal chat group? did it put U.S. troops attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen in harm's way? Will anyone be held accountable?
..... And perhaps most serious of all: Did some participants - notional Director of national Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Trump friend and diplomatic envoy Steve Withoff - inadvertently share chat details?
Blame and consequences
..... On Wednesday, [03/26/2025] Democratic lawmakers called for Defense Secreter Pete Hegseth's had after The Atlantic magazine published additions details of encrypted messages he sent in the Signal chat earlier this month. [03/2025] Others in the chat included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
..... Hegseth's offense? Sending in the app chat what clearly appears to be classified information about the timing and specifics of U.S, military airstrikes on the Iran-backed militant group hours before they occurred March 15, [2025] killing at least 53 people.
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But who, exactly, invited Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat?
..... On March 11, [2025] Goldberg receive a Singnal connection request from Mike Waltz, Trump's top national security adviser, he wrote in a bombshell article published Online Monday. [03/24/2025] Two days later, someone added Goldberg to a "Houthi PC small group" chat in which
the Trump principals discussed the upcoming airstrikes and, afterward, rejoiced at the damage they caused.
..... "I take full responsibility. I built the group," Waltz told Fox News; Laura Ingraham on Tuesday [03/25/2025] night.
..... "I can tell you for 100% I don't know this guy," Waltz added. "I know him by his horrible reputation. ... And I know him in the sense that eh hates the president, but I don;t text him. he wasn't on my phone. And we;re going to figure out how this happened."
..... In his original article, Goldberg wrote that, "I have met him in the past, and though I didn't fine it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration's contentious relationship with journalists - and Trump's periodic fixation on me specifically" for critical articles.
Was classified info shared?
..... Many democrats think so and said new chat details released Wednesday [03/26/2025] were grounds for Hegseth's dismissal.
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In its follow-up article published Wednesday, [03/26/2025] Goldberg and colleague Shane Harris posted pictures of messages Hegseth sent the chat listing the planned launch times of F-18s and tomahawks two hours ahead of the planned attack.
..... Hegseth "undoubtedly transmitted classified sensitive operational information via this chain," Representative Jason Crow, D-Colorado, told Gabbard and Ratcliffe at a House Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday. [03/26/2025]
..... "It's a weapon system, as well as a sequence of strikes,: Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, said of the newly released chat details, Hegseth "needs" to resign immediately.
..... Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, the committee's ranking Democrat, confronted Gabbard with the classification guidelines of her own agency, the Office of Director of Nation la Intelligence, on Wednesday, [03/26/2025] saying they hold that "information providing indication or advanced warning that the U.S. or its allies are preparing an attack" is clearly classified as "top secret."
..... "I don't disagree with that," Gabbard replied. But she said she was relying on Hegseth as the Pentagon representative on the chat to determine what information operation classified.
Was anyone put in harm's way
..... So far no one else is known to have gotten the infraction ahead of time. But in their Atlantic piece, Goldberg and Harris wrote, "If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests - or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to soc la media - the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds. The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic."
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House Democrats maintain that Houthi militants could have shot down U.S. aircraft and drones if Hegseth's texts had gotten out.
..... "It is by the grace of God that we don;t have dead pilots or sunken ships right now," Himes told a Fox News host Tuesday. [03/25/2025] night.
Did info fall into the wrong hands?
..... Senator Adam Schiff, D-California, said that according to public records, Gabband was on a multinational tour including visits to Japan, Thailand, and India during the time frame at issue. Withoff, he said, "was in Russia" when Waltz established the messaging group.
..... Schiff, a former federal prosecutor on numerous espionage cases, on Wednesday wrote "with grave concern" to Gabband and Withoff:
..... "The national security breach caused by shearing sensitive military information over an unclassified messaging application is compounded by the fact that both of you, who are prime targets for foreign intelligence services, were traveling in high-treat environments that pose significant counterintelligence risks to U.S. personnel and devices."