Trump leadership team accidentally invites Atlantic editor to highly classified Signal war-planning channel (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

This needs a thread of its own - we can pull the posts out of Misc Trump. This story is (1) absolutely mindblowing and (2) not mindblowing at all because Trump has never really understood the value of high-caliber professionals and has surrounded himself with dramatically unqualified dolts.

I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.

Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.”

A message to the group, from “Michael Waltz,” read as follows: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”

The message continued, “Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.”

The term principals committee generally refers to a group of the senior-most national-security officials, including the secretaries of defense, state, and the treasury, as well as the director of the CIA. It should go without saying—but I’ll say it anyway—that I have never been invited to a White House principals-committee meeting, and that, in my many years of reporting on national-security matters, I had never heard of one being convened over a commercial messaging app.

One minute later, a person identified only as “MAR”—the secretary of state is Marco Antonio Rubio—wrote, “Mike Needham for State,” apparently designating the current counselor of the State Department as his representative. At that same moment, a Signal user identified as “JD Vance” wrote, “Andy baker for VP.” One minute after that, “TG” (presumably Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, or someone masquerading as her) wrote, “Joe Kent for DNI.” Nine minutes later, “Scott B”—apparently Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, or someone spoofing his identity, wrote, “Dan Katz for Treasury.” At 4:53 p.m., a user called “Pete Hegseth” wrote, “Dan Caldwell for DoD.” And at 6:34 p.m., “Brian” wrote “Brian McCormack for NSC.” One more person responded: “John Ratcliffe” wrote at 5:24 p.m. with the name of a CIA official to be included in the group. I am not publishing that name, because that person is an active intelligence officer.

The principals had apparently assembled. In all, 18 individuals were listed as members of this group, including various National Security Council officials; Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East and Ukraine negotiator; Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; and someone identified only as “S M,” which I took to stand for Stephen Miller. I appeared on my own screen only as “JG.”

That was the end of the Thursday text chain.

full story: https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/

 

[efil4]

Director of CIA
Director of National Intelligence

neither are familiar with DoD policy.

 

[DaveXA]

Director of CIA
Director of National Intelligence

neither are familiar with DoD policy.

I deal with CUI all the time. You can't even share that unless it's through secure channels. Not even talking about secret/TS Intel, which is more restrictive and limited. We got dumbarse idiots running the country. No two ways about it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

..........As Democrats call for heads to roll in the wake of Goldberg’s damning report, Musk has rushed to excuse the behavior of embattled federal officials and said the systems used by the federal government are “shockingly primitive.”

Musk shared an X post by the author and cartoonist behind the Dilbert comics, Scott Adams, who wrote: “If DOGE taught us anything, it's that all of our government systems are stone-age relics. My best guess is that every government official in both parties uses commercial apps for all but the most sensitive stuff. There is no real choice.”

“Most government systems are shockingly primitive,” the Department of Government Efficiency lead, who President Donald Trump charged with gutting departments and slashing bureaucracy, responded on Tuesday morning.

In another post by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday morning who claimed that Goldberg is known for his “sensationalist spin” and that no war plans were discussed, Musk replied with three American flag emojis.

Both replies came less than 24 hours after Musk shared a spoof post by the conservative news satire website The Babylon Bee about Goldberg’s report and took a swipe at the magazine he heads up.

“Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there,” Musk tweeted, before the post was later shared by Trump on Truth Social.........

Elon Musk offers reason on how Trump admin Signal leak occurred

Musk previously stated that the ‘best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic’ after its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s explosive Signal group chat report

www.the-independent.com

FULL TEXT:

Regarding the Signal app drama:

The next thing you will learn is that our top government officials have no secure and efficient way to communicate anything unless they are in the same room.

If you're thinking Why didn't they use the amazing government systems that are designed to be secure?

you will learn one reason why Hillary had her own email system: The government systems don't work.(Hillary probably had other reasons too. But that was a stated reason.)

The story you are unlikely to hear anywhere today is how bad the alternative "secure" systems are. Do they even have a secure group chat function? I doubt it.

Can you assemble a dozen top leaders in one room on short notice? Not usually

.If DOGE taught us anything, it's that all of our government systems are stone-age relics.

My best guess is that every government official in both parties uses commercial apps for all but the most sensitive stuff. There is no real choice.

 

[Optimus Prime]

biden.

The White House has released a bizarre statement calling out Democrats and their "media allies" for allegedly forgetting the results of the attack on Yemen. In a statement, U.S. President Donald Trump called out former President Joe Biden was seemingly responsible for the leak of the classified war texts.

It began: "Democrats and their media allies have seemingly forgotten that President Donald J. Trump and his National Security team successfully killed terrorists who have targeted U.S. troops and disrupted the most consequential shipping routes in the world.

"This is a coordinated effort to distract from the successful actions taken by President Trump and his administration to make America’s enemies pay and keep Americans safe.

"The Biden Administration sat back as a band of pirates — with precision-guided, Iran-provided weaponry — exacted a toll system in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world............

White House releases outlandish statement blaming Biden for war text scandal​

 

[efil4]

The White House has released a bizarre statement calling out Democrats and their "media allies" for allegedly forgetting the results of the attack on Yemen. In a statement, U.S. President Donald Trump called out former President Joe Biden was seemingly responsible for the leak of the classified war texts.

It began: "Democrats and their media allies have seemingly forgotten that President Donald J. Trump and his National Security team successfully killed terrorists who have targeted U.S. troops and disrupted the most consequential shipping routes in the world.

"This is a coordinated effort to distract from the successful actions taken by President Trump and his administration to make America’s enemies pay and keep Americans safe.

"The Biden Administration sat back as a band of pirates — with precision-guided, Iran-provided weaponry — exacted a toll system in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world............

White House releases outlandish statement blaming Biden for war text scandal​

yes the media is down-playing the "strategic strikes" on a band of Houthi rebels ( well "band of pirates" ) that have 1/100th the capability and tech the US Military has.

We should be rejoicing in the streets on how we dropped a $100,000 JDAM on a $5,000 clay hut in the desert. POWER! MURICA!

 

[faceman]

I deal with CUI all the time. You can't even share that unless it's through secure channels. Not even talking about secret/TS Intel, which is more restrictive and limited. We got dumbarse idiots running the country. No two ways about it.

John Bolton, former NSA in Trumps first term says the same. These just came across my youtube suggestions

 

[longtime lurker]

Love the Mark Kelly posts…at least he seems to be asking questions about this mess.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/s/qtZTuGYeX7

 

[Incumbent]

Director of CIA
Director of National Intelligence

neither are familiar with DoD policy.

Which is, of course, the problem with appointing people who aren't qualified for the positions they are serving in, and getting approved by a senate that has relinquished its responsibility to serve in the best interests of the American people.

 

[Optimus Prime]

After spending much of the last decade hyperventilating over Hillary Clinton’s private email server and how it placed America’s national security in peril, the loyal MAGA acolytes at Fox News are suddenly singing a very different tune now that the Trump administration accidentally included a journalist in a group chat discussing war plans.

“After years of secrecy and incompetence, if you read the content of these messages, I think you will come away proud that these are the leaders making these decisions in America,” Fox News host Will Cain insisted on Monday afternoon.

Of course, Cain was hardly alone among his cohorts at the right-wing network, which serves as a staffing agency for the White House, its primary communications arm, and a landing spot for Trump officials and family members.

In the immediate aftermath of The Atlantic’sbombshell report that revealed Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg had been inadvertently added to a Signal text group that detailed recent airstrikes in Yemen, the network’s top Trump-boosting stars have desperately attempted to downplay the news……

The network’s primetime stars, who also serve as Trump’s informal advisers, reacted to the news the best way they know how — by brushing it off as “feigned outrage” spun by a dishonest liberal media who hate Trump and are supporting a “hoax-peddling” journalist like Goldberg.

After Hegseth raged about the “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist” who received the classified airstrike details, Laura Ingraham doubled down on Hegseth’s attacks on Goldberg.

“But, of course, the story of the day, at least on the left-wing networks was how in a Signal, which is an encrypted app, exchange, allegedly, among various administration officials, some plans were discussed in that chain of messages that included some information about possible plans for bombing the Houthis,” she said on Monday night.

“Jeffrey Goldberg, who the secretary of defense was referencing there, is a long-time journalistic adversary of President Trump's and has certainly drawn the ire of conservatives for his reporting about the various hoaxes that Hegseth was referencing there.”

While largely ignoring the story on his primetime broadcast, Jesse Watters did take a moment to dismiss the controversy fully, chalking it up to an innocent mistake that happens all the time among a group of pals.

“Did you ever try to start a group text? You’re adding people and you accidentally add the wrong person? All of a sudden your Aunt Mary knows all your raunchy plans for the bachelor party? Well, that kind of happened today with the Trump administration,” the MAGA sycophant declared.………

Desperate Fox News goes into furious spin mode to downplay Yemen war plans leak

‘I think you will come away proud that these are the leaders making these decisions in America,’ Fox News host Will Cain said about the Trump officials who accidentally invited a journalist into an unclassified group chat discussing war plans

www.independent.co.uk

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

“When I was confirmed as CIA director, Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA as it is for most CIA officers. One of the things that I was briefed on very early, senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use,” Ratcliffe said.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5212727-warner-gabbard-ratcliffe-classified-details-signal/

When I heard that, I immediately thought it was complete BS! He's just blatantly lying to Congress and the GOP will not bat an eye!

 

[MT15]

 

[MT15]

This is nauseating.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

UN-refrigerated milk has a longer shelf-life than Gabbard's tweet. She made that post while she was actively engaged in sharing classified information on an unsecure 3rd party App!

She's the same person that did this to over 100 intelligence officers:

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies for using a government chat platform for discussions that included topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery and politics.

“I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” Gabbard told Fox News on Tuesday.


The chat tool was overseen by the National Security Agency, according to Gabbard. Each intelligence agency has internal collaboration chat tools, former intelligence officials said.

Gabbard said the fired intelligence officers’ conduct represented “an egregious violation of trust” and violated “basic rules and standards around professionalism.”

Christopher Rufo, a conservative commentator who writes for City Journal, first reported the existence of the chats. Rufo posted what he said were transcripts of the conversations, which he said were obtained from a NSA employee and a former employee.

Gabbard, according to a social media post by her spokeswoman, sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances.

Tulsi Gabbard fires more than 100 intelligence officers over messages in a chat tool

The discussions went beyond work to sexual themes and political messages.

www.nbcnews.com

Those officers were held to a higher standard than everyone above them.

 

[longtime lurker]

There's a tug-of-war in the Republican party over Waltz's Signal chat - NewsBreak

“Both sides are using this scandal to advance their agenda,” said one Republican Senate staffer.

www.newsbreak.com

 

[MT15]

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Optimus Prime]

Donald Trump has shifted the blame for a major security blunder in which details of U.S. military operations in Yemen were leaked to a journalist on a secret group chat to an unidentified, “lower level” White Houseemployee that worked for his national security advisor Michael Waltz.

Trump offered the new theory in an interview on Newsmax Tuesday evening on how Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, ended up on the Signal group chat in which the top-secret plans were discussed.

“What it was, we believe, is somebody that was on the line with permission, somebody that was with Mike Waltz, worked for Mike Waltz at a lower level, had, I guess, Goldberg's number or called through the app, and somehow this guy ended up on the call,” the president said.

Trump’s explanation followed an earlier TV appearance by Waltz, who took “full responsibility” for allowing Goldberg to gain access to the discussions……

Trump shifts blame for Signalgate texts onto ‘lower level’ mystery employee

In an interview with Newsmax, Trump offered a new theory on how journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic ended up on a Signal group chat with senior officials discussing bombing plans in Yemen earlier this month

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

White House digs in amid fallout from Signal chat scandal

Trump and his aides are now describing accurate reporting on a national security breach as a ‘hoax’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]