In a shocking incident that has raised national security concerns, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a private group chat involving U.S. military officials.
The chat, which contained sensitive information about recent U.S. strikes in Yemen, was never meant for public eyes. The news came out on Monday, and since then, the issue has caused a wave of reactions across the country.
Secret Military Info Shared by Mistake
According to Goldberg’s own reporting, the group chat included high-level U.S. government officials who were discussing classified military operations. The chat happened over the weekend, and Goldberg was included by mistake.
Once he realized the nature of the conversation, he exposed the incident in a report that has sparked massive public debate.
The most surprising part? The officials were using Signal, a private messaging app known for its end-to-end encryption. While Signal is secure and helps protect messages from hackers, it’s not approved for official government use, especially when dealing with classified or sensitive information.
This means that the use of Signal in this case may violate two key U.S. laws:
- The Presidential Records Act, which requires that official communications be preserved and made available for record-keeping.
- The Federal Records Act, since messages were set to auto-delete and may not have been saved as federal records.
Cassidy Responds: “A Mistake That Won’t Happen Again”
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana spoke to local reporters about the incident. He admitted the situation was serious but said he isn’t too worried. Cassidy called it a “mistake”, and said that former President Trump, if re-elected, “expects them to learn from that mistake.”
When asked if people should be fired over the incident, Cassidy replied, “Maybe somebody gets fired,” but he also stressed that no Americans were harmed during the military operation, so he doesn’t believe anyone must lose their job.
Why Was Signal Used?
Senator Cassidy offered a possible explanation for why such a sensitive chat happened on Signal. He said the app was likely used as a safety measure, due to rising concerns about foreign cyber threats. Specifically, he pointed to China, saying the country has been “very aggressive” in trying to intercept U.S. government communications.
However, despite the need for security, experts argue that using unauthorized apps still goes against government communication policies and creates bigger risks for national security.