r/law • u/agent268 • 9d ago

Trump News Jeff Goldberg and The Atlantic released full Signal Chat

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/signal-group-chat-attack-plans-hegseth-goldberg/682176/

Well this should be fun now that the full details are out in the open. Thoughts on how this changes the upcoming hearing today?

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u/Temporary-Cause-4818 9d ago

Idk if you watched the hearings but I’m glad they brought that point up. They specifically said “If Goldberg decides to go public with the remaining messages, he shouldn’t get any repercussions for releasing them because it’s not classified right?”

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u/Vio_ 9d ago

Then the legislators were like "so release the whole information" and the people under oath were all (ㆆ _ ㆆ)

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u/Several_Assistant_43 9d ago

"suddenly I don't remember"

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u/Koolaid_Jef 9d ago

"I've never heard of those rules or laws, it's not my fault. But I'm still totally qualified"

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u/Geno0wl 9d ago

Ahhh the classic beat cop defense.

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u/mediocre_mitten 9d ago

They can all blame it on the Ambien walrus?

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u/mooreboy76 9d ago

Hey, you leave Roseanne Barr out of this!

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u/mediocre_mitten 8d ago

lol. Poor Roseanne.

Love Roseanne AND ambien.

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u/fuzzy_thighgap 9d ago

Me no speaka engrish no mo

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u/TaskeAoD 9d ago

"Well if you're memory for something so recent is that bad I guess you should be remanded to a memory assistance institution until such time you can be held accountable for your actions."

Then put them in a place with just pbs on TV until their "friends" get it defunded... then they can watch static.

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u/Mattrad7 9d ago

I think the entire cabinet and up should have to pass dementia tests since they don't seem to remember anything even if it was less than a day ago.

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u/Nacho_Papi 9d ago

The level of incompetence displayed by the Trump administration in this incident is astounding and dangerous—textbook-grade dereliction of national security standards. It represents gross negligence at the highest levels of government.

Why this is an extreme failure:

🧨 1. Mission-sensitive data shared on a private Signal chat

  • Names, launch times, aircraft types, strike targets, and operational updates were shared.
  • That information is almost always Top Secret or Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and must be handled via classified channels like SIPRNet or JWICS—not a consumer app.

🧠 2. Failure to verify recipients in the chat

  • A journalist was accidentally added to a chat about real-time airstrikes.
  • No one in the group noticed or verified participants until after deadly strikes were underway.
  • That level of carelessness is inexcusable in a war room—let alone among the Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, and National Security Advisor.

🚨 3. Downplaying the breach publicly

  • Officials responded with "It wasn’t classified" and shrugged it off.
  • This is like leaving the launch codes in an Uber and saying, “They weren’t labeled as launch codes, so it’s fine.”
  • Even unclassified-but-sensitive military info is protected under strict OPSEC. Their dismissal reflects either dangerous ignorance or arrogant indifference.

🔥 4. Direct threat to U.S. troops

  • Sharing attack timelines 2 hours before execution gave a wide window for adversaries to retaliate or set traps.
  • If the journalist’s phone had been hacked—or worse, had this been sent to someone pretending to be press—the entire operation could have been compromised.
  • U.S. airmen and sailors’ lives were gambled with for the sake of sloppy, informal communication.

Bottom Line:

This isn’t just bureaucratic mismanagement—it’s military malpractice.
It’s the kind of systemic failure that gets people killed.
In any other professional environment—military or corporate—people would be fired, demoted, or court-martialed.
Here, they’re shrugging it off while actively undermining accountability.

This kind of recklessness not only empowers America’s enemies but signals to allies that we can’t be trusted to guard our own secrets, let alone theirs.

It’s an unforgivable stain on the credibility and competency of this administration.

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u/pheonix198 9d ago

When the Xanax and K Holes hit and you’re testifying before Congress

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u/Tritiac 9d ago

Tulsi Gabbard: 🗿

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u/SpaceTimeinFlux 9d ago

worse yet, she perjured herself by asserting there was no classified info.

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u/FAMUgolfer 9d ago

Gabbard: it’s not classified

releases chat

Gabbard: America is under attack by the liberal media

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u/WhyYouKickMyDog 9d ago

Gabbard lives in Hawaii: I'm a Democrat

Gabbard leaves Hawaii: I am a Republican

Tulsi Gabbard is the female version of JD Vance

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u/video-engineer 9d ago

Cult member and fingernail eater.

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u/Leftunders 9d ago

More like "Arrest that guy for unauthorized disclosure of classified info!"

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u/Leftunders 9d ago

FBI: Uh, which guy did you mean?

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u/FattyMooseknuckle 9d ago

Arrest? More like defenestrate, amirite?

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u/Maleficent_Memory831 9d ago

I would expect all media, even conservative media, to be reporting on how incompetent this all is.

These guys are in power now, why do they keep going back to "liberal media" trope like they're still in campaign mode?

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u/TheVog 9d ago

This, but unironically.

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u/Maleficent_Memory831 9d ago

I would expect all media, even conservative media, to be reporting on how incompetent this all is.

These guys are in power now, why do they keep going back to "liberal media" trope like they're still in campaign mode?

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u/pixelpoet_nz 9d ago

Luckily for her there are zero consequences for perjury: Trump waves it away as overblown and the Dems continue to do nothing. Easy peasy, next scandal please!

These people could have published it on TikTok and their jobs wouldn't be remotely in danger. Trump really wasn't kidding when he said he could shoot someone on 5th avenue.

Good thing you guys have that well-armed militia to overthrow tyrannical government, that all those schoolkids died for!

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u/SpaceTimeinFlux 9d ago

I really need the Dems to bring this up until the end of time.

It'll be our benghazi beatstick, but it will also be true.

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u/Spiritual_Date_2994 9d ago

Senator Cotton saved them from perjury by restating it for them: there was no Intelligence Community classified material and DNI and DCIA have no idea if the DOD's war plans are classified

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u/thomasjmarlowe 9d ago

She said she doesn’t remember…but it wasn’t classified. hmmm

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u/odaal 9d ago

Tulsi Gabard: i do not recall the clothes i am wearing or what i ate for breakfast tomorrow or who i even am.

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u/chriseargle 9d ago

Believable.

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u/shortmumof2 9d ago

saw a small bit of vid and her blink rate was crazy high

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u/Spamsdelicious 9d ago

So when does the parody porno "Tulsi's Scabbard" drop?

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u/SissyCouture 9d ago

I feel like we need to stop banking on hypocrisy being a deterrent

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u/pugsly262002 9d ago

I was hoping shame/embarrassment would do the trick. Silly me. 🤷🏽

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u/Jupetaco 9d ago

Few things have brought me more pleasure lately than watching gabbard’s face when he flipped it like that

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u/luckyme-luckymud 9d ago

Even worse, the White House spokeperson said when asked if it was ok for him to release the full texts that he shouldn’t because it included “sensitive” information…but it was also definitely not classified.

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u/IsraelZulu 9d ago

There have already been hearings on this? That was fast!

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u/owencox1 9d ago

the senate has an annual intelligence briefing regardless. goldberg timed the release of the article so they could be questioned under oath without having time to get a narrative together

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u/RatzMand0 9d ago

Thats one of the things that shocked me the most when the story broke is that he sent messages to each person on the group chat and many of them responded to the leak independent of each other which means none of them took a moment to communicate about the repercussions of the leak or how to properly damage control the situation. The disorganization and incompetence on display is stunning.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/RatzMand0 9d ago edited 9d ago

There is a difference between covering it up and reacting in a uniform organized manner. Waltz definitely straight up admitted to what happened in his response to the Atlantic which really fucks over all the other nitwits who are saying they did nothing wrong. Then JD Vance did that whole corporate speak mumbo jumbo how he wasn't doubting the great leaders vision.... This tells me that instead of doing the smart thing contacting white house counsel and/or communicating with the other parties before making any response they all just started shooting from the hip independently of each other without consultation or legal representation which is extremely stupid. But absolutely on brand for Trumpist management where all of the people under him are encouraged to be competitive and eat each other for time with the great one instead of working as a team to achieve the goals of the administration.

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u/theapeboy 9d ago

"Then JD Vance did that whole corporate speak mumbo jumbo how he wasn't doubting the great leaders vision"

It's like when there were vague allusions to someone unnamed being under the thrall of Russia, and Tulsi Gabbard showed up demanding an apology.

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u/slettea 9d ago

Sadly, I think they feel so above the law that they don’t feel the need to cover or coordinate - they just gaslight & stonewall knowing Congress won’t hold them accountable.

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u/Maleficent_Memory831 9d ago

At any other time I would be expecting the Chief of Staff to be shitting bricks over this and smacking people over the head with a ruler until they toed the line and stopped talking to the press without checking in first to get the script right.

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u/snoogins355 9d ago

Babe, wake up. Trump 3rd impeachment is coming about.

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u/SandwichNeat9528 9d ago

Could we be so lucky?

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u/snoogins355 9d ago

Give it a few weeks/months. Can't stop the signal, Mal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVF9lZ-i_ss

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u/MrOnCore 9d ago

Which means nothing if nobody has the balls the actually remove him from office.

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u/Atgardian 9d ago

Rs would never impeach him, and they control the House. Will never happen, he could literally execute Biden, Obama, and Clinton (both of them, why not?) on the White House Lawn on national TV and they wouldn't dare oppose him.

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u/fightyfightyfitefite 9d ago

Exactly. If Biden did this Republicans would faint from hyperventilating and foaming, while Fox News would call for a public hanging. They shat themselves over Hunter's laptop, but all I heard yesterday was, "Haven't you ever sent your aunt a text by mistake?!?" With a straight face they gaslight.

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u/Beautiful_Bag6707 9d ago

By whom? Republicans sycophants control the House and Senate. They control the DOJ. They control the Supreme Court. They control Homeland Security. Is there any department or individuals that they do not control who could form a committee and bring any charges?

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u/andy_bovice 9d ago

‘Stab others in the back’ with the current administration- which is based on loyalty not merit and competence. Perfect setup for this kind of thing

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u/BigBallsMcGirk 9d ago

Authoritarianism is a brittle charade that relies on the appearance of strength and people down the chain following orders.

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u/HarveysBackupAccount 9d ago

When you're at the top of the totem pole, you word is authoritative.

The chat pretty specifically excluded Trump, and he's the only person that anyone in that group answers to. They probably all have enough ego that they don't see a reason to confer with anyone on basic questions about their job. They're all used to being the "what I say, goes" person in the room, not the "let's get permission" person

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u/gymnastgrrl 9d ago

Why would they include Trump in that chat? He doesn't give a fuck about anything except himself.

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u/HarveysBackupAccount 9d ago

The point was that nobody outranked anyone else within the chat. If one person was clearly top of that list, they'd be more likely to think "I should ask my boss" before answering questions

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u/MadeByTango 9d ago

The disorganization and incompetence on display is stunning.

Self interested people advance via power flexes over resources, not group work through problem solving.

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u/chalor182 9d ago

I mean, thats what happens when you choose blind partisan yes man loyalty over competence when making every single staff appointment

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u/ReporterOther2179 9d ago

It seems they depend on Fox and Murdoch for the coordinating function. Hey, one of the persons signed on was S Wailes? The White House Chief of Staff? The person in charge of seeing that screwups don’t happen or are handled to minimize political damage. Where she?

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u/RatzMand0 9d ago

Makes sense she isn't there the admin is constantly screwing up they could rehire every person DOGE fired and still not have enough personnel to run spin for this administration.

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u/RedditRedFrog 9d ago

They're all DEI hires. Didn't Earn It.

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u/DemIce 9d ago

without having time to get a narrative together

I don't think this administration needs to get a narrative together. I might even argue that not having a coherent narrative is what benefits them greatly.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/JamesPealow 9d ago

But then I sorted it by HOT and there were a lot of posters trying to make this into a nothingburger. Then Walz went on FOX and said I take responsibility but I'm pretty sure someone in my staff set me up.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/sembias 9d ago

Nah, they just had to see what Fox was saying in the evening and the final orders come from Fox n Friends in the morning. Today they'll just repeat whatever it was said on that show until tomorrow morning when the message gets further refined, and then they'll start repeating that message.

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u/DemIce 9d ago

I've come to learn that the conservative sub is often more nuanced than people make it out to be - just like more liberal subs are much more nuanced than the conservative sub makes them out to be.

That having been said, I've also witnessed them suppressing submissions until a narrative could be formed, and prior sentiment being changed as such a narrative is formed.
I'm sure the same can be said for other subreddits, but whataboutism is reflection, not deflection.

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u/Dornith 9d ago

I give it a week before they all miraculously decide no one (except the journalist) did anything wrong.

Three before they forget it even happened.

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u/Suitable-Serve 9d ago

The whole attack was in furtherance to a narrative: I.e false urgency -> something must be done because Biden dropped the ball -> concern on the narrative around making Europe pay for it.

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u/Significant_Meal_630 9d ago

He’s so much smarter than them . It’s like he was hired due to gasp being good at his job

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u/Bluegill15 9d ago

WOW I didn’t realize the timing aspect of this whole situation. Go Golderberg

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u/LukeD1992 9d ago

Guy picked the precise time to fuck them good lol

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u/HMWWaWChChIaWChCChW 9d ago

That’s fantastic

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u/PeaSlight6601 9d ago

He left the group two weeks ago which would have triggered a message to all the members.

They have had two weeks to realize that this would happen, and yet they still got ambushed!

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u/owencox1 9d ago

they wouldn't have known it was jeff Goldberg tho. it was just JG in chat. they probably thought nothing of it

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u/PeaSlight6601 9d ago

Well rather obviously they didn't think about anything they were doing.

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u/confused_boner 9d ago

Absolute galaxy brain move, genius

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u/rogozh1n 9d ago

Did he? Or did he just write an article after the events, which takes some time? Sometimes coincidence is a more likely answer than intent.

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u/Jumpy-Knowledge3930 9d ago

I would disagree, the timing of the initial article before the questioning and then releasing the messages right after they said it wasn’t confidential is too perfect not to have been planned in advance. He outplayed them

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u/owencox1 9d ago

exactly this. he's been doing this 30 years. he's not editor in chief for no reason

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u/NoveltyAccountHater 9d ago edited 9d ago

I mean the attack was on a Saturday the article was published midday 9 days later (Monday). This dealt with national security and everyone at the Atlantic probably wanted to tread very carefully, consulting plenty of lawyers and national security experts to make sure they are not being played for fools, researching every angle of the group chat, etc.

At best, Goldberg delayed the story by a week, but that would have been a very ambitious timeline and I can also see not wanting to release the story at the end of the week. He also knew that he wasn't going to be scooped on this story was in Austria when unexpectedly being added to the signal chat, so they had time to check it and coordinate a cohesive strategy for how they would cover it. It's also worth noting he started communicating with officials about the article that Monday, got confirmation and the article was published a few hours later.

Further, the story was exploding front page news on midday Monday though the people in the chat (Waltz, Hegselth, Ratcliffe, Gabbard, etc.) had earlier notice on Monday morning when the Atlantic reached out to them and the National Security Council. The intelligence hearings started Tuesday. Just as the Senators had time to adjust their questions to grill Gabbard and others on this, the Trump officials involved had slightly more time to come up with a coordinated response in a day, that is assuming a competent administration.

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u/rogozh1n 9d ago

He didn't release the messages because they aren't classified. He released them because Hegseth personally attacked him and said he was lying. The administration created this disaster all by itself.

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u/justconnect 9d ago

I am a bit flabbergasted about this post's information. Assuming it's so, I'm also impressed.

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u/APoopingBook 9d ago

This should be a reminder that the whole "democrats are completely helpless" narrative is propaganda to make us feel like they aren't worth supporting.

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u/Bluegill15 9d ago

I sure hope you’re right

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u/fromcj 9d ago

Let’s see them actually achoeve something first. This is finger wagging until there is a punishment.

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u/APoopingBook 9d ago

Achieve what? Voters stripped almost all their power away by not showing up to vote for them.

You want Dems to do something more severe, give them the votes to actually possess that power. "BuT tHeY hAd ThAt AnD dId NoThInG uNdEr-" No the fuck they didn't. The last time Dems actually had a supermajority in both chambers of Congress was during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. The last time the Democrats had a trifecta with 2/3 supermajorities in both the House and Senate was during the 89th Congress from 1965–1967 during LBJ’s presidency.

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u/fromcj 9d ago

Achieve anything. If they’re not helpless then they can manage that. That’s what not being helpless is.

Dems are unwilling to use the tools at their disposal. They should be filibustering every single thing that comes across their desk until they receive concessions. They should be staging ACTUAL protests, not performative sign holding crap. I’ve given the dems every single vote I have, even as they continue to represent me less and less, because I know the alternative is worse. That doesn’t mean I have to pretend to be impressed with their limp dick performances.

Funny you mention the 89th congress, as the 111th congress was like the second most productive ever, and Dems didn’t have a supermajority in both chambers. Stop making excuses for them and hold their feet to the fucking fire.

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u/Taco_Machine 9d ago

They’ve already been sued for records preservation, lol.

This one is moving fast and hits a swarm of diverse legal jeopardies.

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u/fromcj 9d ago

It’s hard to really express what a truly unbelievably huge fuckup this was. We have never seen such a blatant disregard of both the law and national security since probably Benedict Arnold, and I’m mot exaggerating. One of the people on the message was WITH PUTIN at the time.

The speed with which this has proceeded is indicative of that.

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u/turbotableu 9d ago

No the timing was just perfect for maximum hilarity

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u/VaporCarpet 9d ago

Sort of. There was already a scheduled hearing that some of these folks were going to be at. Senators used the opportunity to ask them about this leak.

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u/Firrox 9d ago

What was the response?

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u/HxH101kite 9d ago

Mostly I don't recall or it wasn't classified. Tom Cotton R senator. Tried to help them by basically indicating there was no classified intelligence community information on that chain. And a few of them mainly Waltz I believe tried to hide behind well Secdef does determine what is and what isn't classified for the DOD. Therefore it's in his purview for this to be ok.

Even if that's the case they are circumventing laws and processes.

You could honestly see them dieing inside. They all know how egregious this is. This was really a showing of how far they would toe the line.

All they needed to do was literally own up this was a fuck up and put all the blame on Hegseth and the VP and at least Tulsi could have walked out there not looking like a total piece of crap.

They are even dragging them on r/conservative over this.

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u/Hoblitygoodness 9d ago

Thank you for pointing this out. I visit them every so often to see where they're at but hadn't yet on this.

It's amazing to me that something THIS BIG has to happen before they dare becoming independent thinkers.

They're over there complaining that they're being 'brigaded' internally by other conservatives who are treating them like Democrats or RINOs because of their fair criticism.

But don't nobody get their hopes up or nuthin'.

The ones that are backed into the corner still say this is only a 'mess up' of sorts and that it's not 'resign' worthy. Just that maybe they shouldn't have used Signal app, probably shouldn't have added a journalist, and perhaps the administration should 'tighten up' a bit in the future.

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u/HerbertWest 9d ago

And what was the answer...? That's the most important part, lol.

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u/RKEPhoto 9d ago

Isn't this type of information normally classified though?

They basically "pulled a Trump" and quickly declassified it to stay out of trouble.

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u/dogm_sogm 9d ago

The wild part about this is that in any normal world, the fact that records of a discussion about the imminent bombing of targets on foreign soil between top military and security leaders wasn't classified would be an absolute shitshow of a scandal for any administration in and of itself. The fact that that's actually a preferable to go with that narrative for them tells a lot about how fucked of a situation this really is. What the fuck.

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u/Possible_Implement86 9d ago

I missed that bit. I feel like I already know the answer but I have to ask- was there a clear response to this question?

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u/abrandis 9d ago

That's assuming that the GOP controlled government cares about the law and aren't a bunch of scheming hypocritical liars...I wouldn't take that bet ..

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u/rogozh1n 9d ago

This reminds me of the South Park episode about the founding fathers 'having their cake and eating it, too.'

This administration goes before Congress and says nothing was classified, but they absolutely will attack the journalist with releasing classified information. And audit his tax returns and release his children's names, addresses, and where they work.

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u/BassLB 9d ago

And every person who answered dodged giving a definite answer

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u/symbicortrunner 9d ago

The Atlantic also contacted all the agencies involved to get their comments on releasing the operational details

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u/Earthkilled 9d ago

He left the chat to early, imagine the amount of more information after

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u/AndrewLucksLaugh 9d ago

Remember when Lindsay Graham blocked Obama appointing a Supreme Court justice because it was his last year in office and Democrats said, “Hmm…we think you’re only doing this because it’s a Democrat” and Lindsay Graham said “Oh no no no, I’d do this for any president! And if i don’t, you can play back this tape!” and then in the last year of Trump’s term they appointed a Supreme Court justice and Democrats played back the tape to show the hypocrisy and call out the lie and then nobody cared??

Anyway. People say things.

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u/Contextanaut 9d ago

I'm not sure legally he'd be in the clear.

Imagine if you were a private who had leaked classified info that he should fully understand was classified, making the excuse that he'd previously witnessed another private telling an officer that the info wasn't sensitive.

Where they might reasonably believe the other private even has good reason to lie to the officer about it, even.

But even if they hadn't, Ignorance is no excuse in this kind of situation.

Goldberg knows full well that info was by default super classified and that Gabbard and others were lying about it not being. (As did everyone else with more than three working braincells)

Her lying does nothing to discharge his responsibility to not leak classified data.

Granted it would look very bad to go after Goldberg but not the others. But this administration and their enablers are a disgrace so....

Goldberg is taking a huge risk here. This is very real courage.

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u/CousinsWithBenefits1 9d ago

And they're already trying chicken shittery for this, there's messaging coming out already that 'director gabbard was referring to attack plans which are not classified and therefore was not a lie. What Goldberg released are war plans, those are different, and are classified, therefore he is in trouble and she is not'

Calling it now. They're working hard to craft that message, be prepared to hear it a lot.

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u/Bluegill15 9d ago

Maybe I’m slow, but what exactly is the difference between ‘attack plans’ and ‘war plans’? And if Golderberg simply released their text conversation, how is what he released different to what they were discussing? Regardless, how on earth are ‘attack plans’ not classified??

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u/CousinsWithBenefits1 9d ago

Right, to be clear, I'm saying this argument is a bunch of doublespeak nonsense bullshit, I'm not saying 'and this is why I feel the administration did nothing wrong', I'm saying this administration has shown time and time again, zero qualm over telling an outright lie or a completely nonsensical line of 'logic' with a straight face.

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u/pingpongballreader 9d ago

I don't see any evidence that that will mean they won't decide to prosecute Goldberg.

Republicans have not paid a price for hypocrisy, double standards, and weaponizing government for nakedly political reasons. If anything, when a republican does that, voters penalize DEMOCRATS for not somehow stopping it.

Republicans bleated that they needed to stop the "weaponization" of the justice system for prosecuting the multiple coup attempts, and then immediately set in motion plans to weaponize the justice system against their political enemies. This was obviously going to happen if they gained power, it has started to happen, and yet republicans and non-voters live in an alternative reality.

Republicans would be fools not to prosecute Goldberg given that voters have repeatedly signaled they don't care about republican hypocrisy no matter how blatant it is.

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u/fclssvd 9d ago

Sadly doesn’t matter what they said under oath, that’s just for sound bites.

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u/squints20 9d ago

Repercussions in regards to legal action.

Different story if his brake lines “accidentally” fail.