Hegseth Sends Top Secret Attack Plans to Journalist - By Mistake

nothing to see here. move along. investigation complete

White House closes case on Signal and stands by Waltz, with key questions still unanswered

When Donald Trump selected Mike Waltz to serve as national security adviser, the choice was widely seen as win-win: A combat veteran with four Bronze Stars would bring his judgment to the White House and his deep-red Florida House district was safe in Republican hands. Now, both assumptions seem far less certain, as Waltz struggles to restore his credibility inside the West Wing after an embarrassing security breach and Republicans scramble to hold onto his old seat in a special election Tuesday that will stand as one of the most significant tests of Trump’s popularity since taking office.

With questions still swirling around Waltz on Monday, the White House sought to turn the page. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump stands by Waltz and an investigation had been closed into how the national security adviser invited The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief into a chat on an encrypted messaging app where Trump’s team discussed military plans to strike Yemen.

“As the president has made very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,” Leavitt told reporters. “This case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned. There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can, obviously, never happen again. We’re moving forward.”

Leavitt declined to elaborate what steps had been taken and didn’t say whether the review – promised last week by the president, and also said to include the White House counsel’s office and Elon Musk – shed any new light onto how Jeffrey Goldberg was invited to join the chat, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed a highly sensitive military operation for taking out Houthi rebels in Yemen.

 

Mike Waltz used personal Gmail for government communications: Report

National security adviser Mike Waltz used his personal Gmail account for government communications, The Washington Post reported, citing documents it reviewed and interviews with three U.S. officials.

 

The continual leak of information sending waltz up the river isn't by accident

'Parade of incompetence' revealed with new Trump security bombshell

On Wednesday afternoon, Politico reported that Waltz’s team actually had set up 20 or more different Signal group chats, for national security crises.

“National security adviser Mike Waltz’s team regularly set up chats on Signal to coordinate official work on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, according to four people who have been personally added to Signal chats,” according to Politico. “Two of the people said they were in or have direct knowledge of at least 20 such chats. All four said they saw instances of sensitive information being discussed.”


Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world - POLITICO

Two of the people said they were in or have direct knowledge of at least 20 such chats. All four said they saw instances of sensitive information being discussed. “It was commonplace to stand up chats on any given national security topic,” said one of the people involved in the chats, adding that the groups often included Cabinet members and high-level staff.

All four of the people were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the private chats.

Veteran national security officials have warned the practice potentially violates regulations on protecting sensitive national security information from foreign adversaries, and federal recordkeeping laws if the chats are automatically deleted. NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes noted that Signal is allowed on government devices and that some agencies automatically install it on employees’ phones. He also stressed that officials have used the app in both the Biden and Trump administrations.
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“Waltz built the entire NSC communications process on Signal,” said another one of the people who participated in multiple group chats.