👀 Waltz, SecDef SignalGate | Signalgate 2.0 Oct 2025

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nycfan said:

Exclusive: how the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg got added to the White House Signal group chat​

Internal investigation cleared the national security adviser Mike Waltz, but the mistake was months in the making

www.theguardian.com

Exclusive: how the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg got added to the White House Signal group chat

Internal investigation cleared the national security adviser Mike Waltz, but the mistake was months in the making
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

“… The disclosures nonetheless triggered a “forensic review” by the White House information technology office, which found that Waltz’s phone had saved Goldberg’s number as part of an unlikely series of events that started when Goldberg emailed the Trump campaign last October.

According to three people briefed on the internal investigation, Goldberg had emailed the campaign about a story that criticized Trump for his attitude towards wounded service members. To push back against the story, the campaign enlisted the help of Waltz, their national security surrogate.

Goldberg’s email was forwarded to then-Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes, who then copied and pasted the content of the email – including the signature block with Goldberg’s phone number – into a text message that he sent to Waltz, so that he could be briefed on the forthcoming story.

Waltz did not ultimately call Goldberg, the people said, but in an extraordinary twist, inadvertently ended up saving Goldberg’s number in his iPhone – under the contact card for Hughes, now the spokesperson for the national security council.

…
According to the White House, the number was erroneously saved during a “contact suggestion update” by Waltz’s iPhone, which one person described as the function where an iPhone algorithm adds a previously unknown number to an existing contact that it detects may be related.

The mistake went unnoticed until last month when Waltz sought to add Hughes to the Signal group chat – but ended up adding Goldberg’s number to the 13 March message chain named “Houthi PC small group”, where several top US officials discussed plans for strikes against the Houthis. …”
Click to expand...
Interesting. Provides a little bit of absolution for the mistake while simultaneously emphasizing the very point of using highly secure means of communication for things you don’t want out there.
 
nycfan said:

Exclusive: how the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg got added to the White House Signal group chat​

Internal investigation cleared the national security adviser Mike Waltz, but the mistake was months in the making

www.theguardian.com

Exclusive: how the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg got added to the White House Signal group chat

Internal investigation cleared the national security adviser Mike Waltz, but the mistake was months in the making
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

“… The disclosures nonetheless triggered a “forensic review” by the White House information technology office, which found that Waltz’s phone had saved Goldberg’s number as part of an unlikely series of events that started when Goldberg emailed the Trump campaign last October.

According to three people briefed on the internal investigation, Goldberg had emailed the campaign about a story that criticized Trump for his attitude towards wounded service members. To push back against the story, the campaign enlisted the help of Waltz, their national security surrogate.

Goldberg’s email was forwarded to then-Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes, who then copied and pasted the content of the email – including the signature block with Goldberg’s phone number – into a text message that he sent to Waltz, so that he could be briefed on the forthcoming story.

Waltz did not ultimately call Goldberg, the people said, but in an extraordinary twist, inadvertently ended up saving Goldberg’s number in his iPhone – under the contact card for Hughes, now the spokesperson for the national security council.

…
According to the White House, the number was erroneously saved during a “contact suggestion update” by Waltz’s iPhone, which one person described as the function where an iPhone algorithm adds a previously unknown number to an existing contact that it detects may be related.

The mistake went unnoticed until last month when Waltz sought to add Hughes to the Signal group chat – but ended up adding Goldberg’s number to the 13 March message chain named “Houthi PC small group”, where several top US officials discussed plans for strikes against the Houthis. …”
Click to expand...
Someone isn’t telling the truth.....

“Well, this isn’t ‘The Matrix.’ Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones,” Goldberg said in response to Waltz’s remarks during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation.”

“My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone,” he continued. “He’s telling everyone that he’s never met me or spoken to me. That’s simply not true.”

 
ZenMode said:
Someone isn’t telling the truth.....

“Well, this isn’t ‘The Matrix.’ Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones,” Goldberg said in response to Waltz’s remarks during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation.”

“My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone,” he continued. “He’s telling everyone that he’s never met me or spoken to me. That’s simply not true.”

Click to expand...
It’s more likely that none of them are telling the truth.
 
ZenMode said:
Someone isn’t telling the truth.....

“Well, this isn’t ‘The Matrix.’ Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones,” Goldberg said in response to Waltz’s remarks during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation.”

“My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone,” he continued. “He’s telling everyone that he’s never met me or spoken to me. That’s simply not true.”

Click to expand...
There are pictures of them side by side at at least one event, backing up Goldberg’s version, so it seems pretty certain they’ve met (however briefly) — and given Goldberg’s career of reporting national security matters (with a ton of GOP sources) and Waltz’s involvement in national security matters in the House, it would be a little odd if they had never met. It could also be true that Goldberg shared contact info with Waltz at some point but Waltz ignored it, only to have it accidentally added to his contacts under another official’s name as reported by the Guardian.
 
OK, so there are three problems with this new Brian Hughes story:

1. I thought Goldberg was added because they were looking to add Jameson Greer? Were they? Was Greer supposed to be on the call? You'd think this would be information that could be obtained.

2. Brian Hughes is a state department spokesman. Or an NSC spokesman. Or some kind of spokesman. Why is he being invited into the chat about the attack plan? Is it normal to have spokesmen involved?

3. Are we supposed to believe that this was the first time Waltz had messaged or called or communicated with Hughes? If the problem was that Hughes' number was overwritten, it would have showed up the first time Waltz messaged him.

So the first message was "invitation to join group chat"? It wasn't something like, "hey, we have a group chat, are you free?" or "you're required to be in a group chat at XX:XX:XX"? It was just an invitation that shows up in his message list unannounced?

It is not credible that Hughes and Waltz talked last September or October, and then not again until the Signal fiasco.
 

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat​

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.

www.nytimes.com

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.

Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic.

Mr. Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, but she has traveled with him overseas and drawn criticism for accompanying her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.

Mr. Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who continues to serve as his personal lawyer, both have jobs in the Pentagon, but it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes aimed at the Houthis in Yemen. …”
 
nycfan said:

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat​

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.

www.nytimes.com

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.

Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic.

Mr. Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, but she has traveled with him overseas and drawn criticism for accompanying her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.

Mr. Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who continues to serve as his personal lawyer, both have jobs in the Pentagon, but it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes aimed at the Houthis in Yemen. …”
Click to expand...
“…Mr. Hegseth created the separate Signal group initially as a forum for discussing routine administrative or scheduling information, two of the people familiar with the chat said. The people said Mr. Hegseth typically did not use the chat to discuss sensitive military operations and said it did not include other cabinet-level officials.

Mr. Hegseth shared information about the Yemen strikes in the “Defense | Team Huddle” chat at roughly the same time he was putting the same details in the other Signal chat group that included senior U.S. officials and The Atlantic, the people familiar with Mr. Hegseth’s chat group said. …

… The chat also included two senior advisers to Mr. Hegseth — Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick — who were accused of leaking unauthorized information last week and were fired. Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Selnick were among three former top Pentagon officials who proclaimed their innocence in a public statement on Saturdayin response to the leak inquiry that led to their dismissals.

… One person familiar with the chat said Mr. Hegseth’s aides had warned him a day or two before the Yemen strikes not to discuss such sensitive operational details in his Signal group chat, which, while encrypted, is not considered as secure as government channels typically used for discussing highly sensitive war planning and combat operations. …”
 
nycfan said:
“…Mr. Hegseth created the separate Signal group initially as a forum for discussing routine administrative or scheduling information, two of the people familiar with the chat said. The people said Mr. Hegseth typically did not use the chat to discuss sensitive military operations and said it did not include other cabinet-level officials.

Mr. Hegseth shared information about the Yemen strikes in the “Defense | Team Huddle” chat at roughly the same time he was putting the same details in the other Signal chat group that included senior U.S. officials and The Atlantic, the people familiar with Mr. Hegseth’s chat group said. …

… The chat also included two senior advisers to Mr. Hegseth — Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick — who were accused of leaking unauthorized information last week and were fired. Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Selnick were among three former top Pentagon officials who proclaimed their innocence in a public statement on Saturdayin response to the leak inquiry that led to their dismissals.

… One person familiar with the chat said Mr. Hegseth’s aides had warned him a day or two before the Yemen strikes not to discuss such sensitive operational details in his Signal group chat, which, while encrypted, is not considered as secure as government channels typically used for discussing highly sensitive war planning and combat operations. …”
Click to expand...
The guy can't help himself. He's still pinching himself because he's the Secretary of Defense, and is so excited he includes his wife, brother and personal lawyer in on the details. "Hey, look at me!" Complete lack of professionalism. What a douche.
 
Bobfripp said:
The guy can't help himself. He's still pinching himself because he's the Secretary of Defense, and is so excited he includes his wife, brother and personal lawyer in on the details. "Hey, look at me!" Complete lack of professionalism. What a douche.
Click to expand...
Hope he enjoyed it because he’ll be chopped very soon now. And I won’t be shocked if Rubio follows before September.
 
nycfan said:

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat​

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.

www.nytimes.com

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat

The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.

Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic.

Mr. Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, but she has traveled with him overseas and drawn criticism for accompanying her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.

Mr. Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who continues to serve as his personal lawyer, both have jobs in the Pentagon, but it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes aimed at the Houthis in Yemen. …”
Click to expand...
Sounds like a national security issue.
 


“…Ullyot, who resigned from the Pentagon last week, described a department in collapse. He accused Hegseth’s team of “falsehoods” about why three top officials were fired last week, saying they hadn’t leaked sensitive information to the media.

He chastised Pentagon officials for how they handled revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive military information in a Signal chat, and he pointed to other leaks that caused embarrassment to the administration.

The remarkable accusations by a former official — who left only two days ago and insists he still supports the Trump administration’s national security policies — underscores the infighting and upheaval that has turned increasingly public in recent weeks.

But he also found himself in the center of several controversies that added to that chaos.

Ullyot was sidelined after he defended the removal in March of a story discussing the service of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, part of a larger purge of diversity-related military webpages.

“The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” he wrote. …”
 
nycfan said:


“…Ullyot, who resigned from the Pentagon last week, described a department in collapse. He accused Hegseth’s team of “falsehoods” about why three top officials were fired last week, saying they hadn’t leaked sensitive information to the media.

He chastised Pentagon officials for how they handled revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive military information in a Signal chat, and he pointed to other leaks that caused embarrassment to the administration.

The remarkable accusations by a former official — who left only two days ago and insists he still supports the Trump administration’s national security policies — underscores the infighting and upheaval that has turned increasingly public in recent weeks.

But he also found himself in the center of several controversies that added to that chaos.

Ullyot was sidelined after he defended the removal in March of a story discussing the service of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, part of a larger purge of diversity-related military webpages.

“The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” he wrote. …”
Click to expand...

 
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