Shit You Can’t Make Up: Yemen Houthi Strike Planning Held On Unsecured Phones In Group Chat

Michael Waltz – National Security Adviser
Pete Hegseth – Secretary of Defense (DOD) (Operational lead. Shared target lists and strike details. Argued for immediate execution, citing strategic and political urgency.)
JD Vance – Vice President (Voiced economic and messaging concerns but supported the operation. Closed his final message with a prayer for victory.)
Marco Rubio (“MAR”) – Secretary of State (Named Mike Needham as State’s liaison. Praised the operation’s success post-strike.)
Joe Kent – Nominee, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (Designated by DNI. Cautioned against rushing the strike, suggesting more time for strategic framing.) Tulsi Gabbard (“TG”) – Director of National Intelligence (DNI) (Nominated Kent as DNI’s point person. Later applauded the results of the military operation.)
John Ratcliffe – CIA Director (Contributed intelligence-relevant messages. Participated in post-strike commentary and praise.)
Susie (Susan Summerall) Wiles – White House Chief of Staff (Cheered CENTCOM’s performance. Played a morale-boosting role in the group.)
Stephen Miller (“S M”) – Deputy White House Chief of Staff (Confirmed Trump’s go-ahead. Advocated for demanding concessions from Europe and Egypt post-operation.
Steve Witkoff – Special Envoy for the Middle East and Ukraine (Reacted enthusiastically post-strike. Known for his close ties to Trump’s inner circle.)
Brian McCormack – National Security Council Official (Included as the NSC’s representative. His activity in the thread wasn’t detailed, but his inclusion reflects institutional coordination.)
Dan Caldwell – Department of Defense Liaison (Named by Hegseth as DoD’s point person for the operation.(
Mike Needham – Counselor to the State Department (Designated by Rubio to represent State in follow-up planning and coordination.)
Andy Baker – Representative from the Vice President’s Office (Named by JD Vance as his liaison for operational coordination.)
Dan Katz – Treasury Department Liaison (Selected by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to represent Treasury in the group.)
Jeffrey Goldberg (accidental) – Editor in Chief, The Atlantic

Trace Gallagher: Republicans are concerned with NPR’s ‘liberal bias’01:32 Trace Gallagher: Republicans are concerned with NPR’s ‘liberal bias’ Jasmine Crockett conceals the meaning of ‘hot wheels’: Gutfeld 07:15 Jasmine Crockett conceals the meaning of ‘hot wheels’: Gutfeld Joe Concha labels NPR CEO a ‘human Chernobyl’ over testimony on Capitol Hill 06:49 Joe Concha labels NPR CEO a ‘human Chernobyl’ over testimony on Capitol Hill Gutfeld: The media ‘outraged’ over Signal ‘messaging mess’ are the same media that covered up Biden’s decline 11:18 Gutfeld: The media ‘outraged’ over Signal ‘messaging mess’ are the same media that covered up Biden’s decline Can Congress put an end to activist judges? 04:26 Can Congress put an end to activist judges? Alina Habba: This is a distraction 04:11 Alina Habba: This is a distraction Dems are in ‘no position’ to lecture about national security: Mark Meadows 06:41 Dems are in ‘no position’ to lecture about national security: Mark Meadows The hysteria on the Left over Trump team chat leak is ‘phony outrage,’ Hannity argues 10:21 The hysteria on the Left over Trump team chat leak is ‘phony outrage,’ Hannity argues Jasmine Crockett is ‘a mess,’ ‘trying to act tough,’ says Brett Cooper 06:55 Jasmine Crockett is ‘a mess,’ ‘trying to act tough,’ says Brett Cooper Fani Willis and ‘loverboy’ caught at airport: ‘Relationships like this make a difference in court’ 05:23 Fani Willis and ‘loverboy’ caught at airport: ‘Relationships like this make a difference in court’ Lawmakers try to find ‘Common Ground’ on unleashing E15 fuel 07:17 Lawmakers try to find ‘Common Ground’ on unleashing E15 fuel NPR and PBS chiefs are ‘squealing’ at threat of pulled government funding, Charlie Hurt says 06:15 NPR and PBS chiefs are ‘squealing’ at threat of pulled government funding, Charlie Hurt says Dems are trying to ‘overblow’ Signal leak ‘mistake’, creating a ‘faux controversy,’ says GOP senator 05:27 Dems are trying to ‘overblow’ Signal leak ‘mistake’, creating a ‘faux controversy,’ says GOP senator Seen and Unseen: If PBS focused on what brings America together, it could keep running 04:55 Seen and Unseen: If PBS focused on what brings America together, it could keep running ‘Libs’ are ‘fussing’ over who was on a text chain, says Sen. Josh Hawley 03:46 ‘Libs’ are ‘fussing’ over who was on a text chain, says Sen. Josh Hawley Is Trump going to let Elon Musk DOGE NPR?: Watters 10:44 Is Trump going to let Elon Musk DOGE NPR?: Watters Delicate deal: Skepticism grows over Russia and Ukraine’s ceasefire deal after overnight strikes 02:13 Delicate deal: Skepticism grows over Russia and Ukraine’s ceasefire deal after overnight strikes Laura: The Atlantic views MAGA and Trump as the real villains 09:31 Laura: The Atlantic views MAGA and Trump as the real villains DHS Secretary Noem warns illegal aliens to not come to US 00:32 DHS Secretary Noem warns illegal aliens to not come to US Media coverage of Signal chat leak is all a ‘witch hunt,’ Trump says 04:10 Media coverage of Signal chat leak is all a ‘witch hunt,’ Trump says

Pentagon Atlantic reporter publishes more texts about attack on Houthi targets Vice President JD Vance says The Atlantic ‘oversold’ the messages they had Greg Norman By Greg Norman Fox News Published March 26, 2025 8:55am EDT | Updated March 26, 2025 9:50am EDT Facebook Twitter Flipboard Comments Print Email

The Atlantic releases new Hegseth messages from leaked Signal chat Fox News’ Peter Doocy reports the latest on Signal messages between Trump officials mistakenly sent to reporter Jeffrey Goldberg.

The Atlantic published Wednesday what it described as the “attack plans” at the center of a Signal text chain leak involving senior officials in the Trump administration.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz have faced calls to resign following revelations that the outlet’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a private group chat earlier this month in which Hegseth, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance and other top administration officials reportedly discussed impending airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Hegseth has said “nobody was texting war plans” and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard vowed during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday that there was “no classified material” in the messages.

“TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s),” Hegseth apparently wrote in a screenshot of a text message released Wednesday by The Atlantic.

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched,” Hegseth reportedly continued, before adding “we are currently clean on OPSEC [operational security]” and “Godspeed to our Warriors.”

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg exposed a new national security low for Trump

His first administration was sloppy with America’s secrets. His second is even worse.

March 24, 2025, 4:37 PM EDT By Ryan Teague Beckwith, Newsletter Editor

Suppose you were a spy for a hostile foreign power, trying to figure out how to steal America’s secrets.

In years past, you might have tried to flip an FBI agent working on counterintelligence or planted a bug in the U.S. embassy. Or maybe you would have tasked a team of hackers with gaining access to the emails of members of the Democratic National Committee These days, the question would be what you wouldn’t do. Donald Trump’s first administration was so sloppy and uncaring about basic security protocols that a spy hoping to penetrate the U.S. government faced an embarrassment of riches from Mar-a-Lago to the Oval Office. His second administration, barely two months old, is already worse.

The most recent — and perhaps most egregious — example became public Monday when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, revealed that late last week he was inadvertently added to a group chat planning military strikes in Yemen involving accounts that appeared to be Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Michael Waltz and other top officials.

The breach was so egregious that Goldberg at first figured it was the kind of stunt that conservative activists have used to pull to try to trick journalists. But he changed his mind (and exited the group) after details from the discussion matched U.S. strikes in Yemen Saturday. The chat’s authenticity was subsequently confirmed by a spokesman for the National Security Council, who spun it as “a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful coordination between senior officials.” (Asked by reporters about the breach at a White House event, Trump said he knew ““nothing about it.””)¹

This kind of conversation about an upcoming military operation is normally conducted through a secure government channel or in what’s known as a “sensitive compartmented information facility.” A SCIF is so secure that you’re not even allowed to bring your cellphone into it. It follows logically that you shouldn’t be holding those same conversations on a cellphone either, much less using commercial software such as Signal. If hacking Signal is too difficult, perhaps a foreign spy might find it easier to hack Starlink, the satellite internet service run by [Elon Musk)(https://www.x.com/elonmusk/)’s SpaceX. Starlink has been installed around the White House as well as the General Services Administration and other federal agencies, according to a recent New York Times article. In 2022, a Belgian researcher demonstrated a method to hack Starlink terminals using off-the-shelf equipment that cost around $25.

Or maybe an intelligence agency could recruit one of the tens of thousands of former federal workers forced out of their job by [Musk)(https://www.x.com/elonmusk/)’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. “National security and intelligence experts” recently told the Associated Press that the more former employees fired, the more likely it is that one or handful reach out to another country, whether out of anger or simply to pay the bills.

It can be hard to flip federal workers, though, as they are rigorously screened before hiring and typically serve the government out of a patriotic sense of duty. Maybe you’d find it easier as a spy to just rent an apartment in Trump Tower and get a membership at one of Trump’s golf clubs so you can set up a meeting with him, as a Chinese fugitive with ties to organized crime did during Trump’s first term, according to a a ProPublica investigation.

If you bought a membership to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, you might even come across a few hundred classified documents while looking for a bathroom or walking through a gilded ballroom, as detailed in an indictment for a since-scuttled case against Trump.

Or you could hang out in high-end D.C. restaurants, where during Trump’s first term his lawyers were overheard by a New York Times reporter discussing details of several investigations into the administration. Or just wait for one of Trump’s lawyers to inadvertently butt-dial your phone and listen in to his conversation — as Rudy Giuliani managed to do not once, but twice, in Trump’s first term.

Every administration has its share of snafus, security failures and oversights. But the Trump administration’s errors are on an entirely different level.

Every administration has its share of snafus, security failures and oversights. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as we were endlessly reminded in the 2016 campaign, had her own private email server installed at her house, which ended up handling a number of emails that included classified information. Her campaign chairman, John Podesta, was hacked by a simple “change your password” phishing email. Former president Joe Biden, among others, also had some some classified documents. But the Trump administration’s errors in this area are on an entirely different level. The sheer scale and scope of its transgressions against standard operational security are mind-boggling.

Some of this may be due to Trump’s love of hiring outsiders without much government experience. Some of it may be due to disrespect for record-keeping laws. But the most straightforward answer is that Trump and the people he hires believe the rules don’t apply to them, even if those rules were designed to protect their secrets — and ours.

@RalphHightower: The Atlantic has a paywall. Jeffrey Goldberg was interviewed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans - The Atlantic

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

By Jeffrey Goldberg March 24, 2025, 12:06 PM ET

Federal Agencies In Article	Purpose
Bureau of Consular Affairs	The Bureau of Consular Affairs provides passport services to U.S. citizens, issues Visas to enter the U.S., manages the Diversity Visa Lottery, and provides services to U.S. citizens abroad.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)	The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) integrates the intelligence gathering and analysis functions performed across the intelligence community to provide intelligence to decision makers.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)	The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is responsible for defending and promoting U.S. interests in 20 nations in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and the strategic waterways that surround them.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)	The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) enforces federal law, and investigates a variety of criminal activity including terrorism, cybercrime, white collar crimes, public corruption, civil rights violations, and other major crimes. In an emergency dial 911!
National Security Agency (NSA)	The National Security Agency (NSA) provides the military forces needed to deter war, and to protect the security of the United States.
National Security Council(NSC)	The National Security Council(NSC) advises the President on national security and foreign policy.
Department of the Treasury	The Department of the Treasury manages federal finances by collecting taxes and paying bills and by managing currency, government accounts and public debt. The Department of the Treasury also enforces finance and tax laws.

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@RalphHightower: The Sergeant Schultz Defense: *“I know nothing! I know nothing!”. Hogan’s Heroes. CBS. 1965 – 1971. Hogan’s Heroes – Wikipedia ↩

Shit You Can’t Make Up: Yemen Houthi Strike Planning Held On Unsecured Phones In Group Chat

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg exposed a new national security low for Trump

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans - The Atlantic

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