Did Somebody Say “Dunce”?
The ineptitude is staggering.

I know that this story has been mentioned in the comment section already, but it seems to be worth further highlighting.
There is a reason that many of us had concerns about the Hegseth nomination (amongst others). And there are reasons why we do not trust the bull-in-a-China-shop approach that this administration is taking via DOGE. And in case those reasons are not clear, it is because these are all a combination of unqualified (or, at best, underqualified) buffoons who don’t take governing seriously.
This also seems like a great time to lament, “but, her emails.”
Writes Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic.
On Tuesday, March 11, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz. Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text-messaging services are capable of delivering. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. I did not assume, however, that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz. I have met him in the past, and though I didn’t find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with journalists—and Trump’s periodic fixation on me specifically. It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me. It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.
I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.
Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.”
A message to the group, from “Michael Waltz,” read as follows: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”
[…]
The term principals committee generally refers to a group of the senior-most national-security officials, including the secretaries of defense, state, and the treasury, as well as the director of the CIA. It should go without saying—but I’ll say it anyway—that I have never been invited to a White House principals-committee meeting, and that, in my many years of reporting on national-security matters, I had never heard of one being convened over a commercial messaging app.
He lists all of the persons in the chain, but it included the Vance, Rubio, Gabbard, Hegseth, and a number of other very prominent members of the administration.
Since this is outside my expertise I cannot definitively answer the following question: but surely the federal government has a better way of communicating than with a commercial app? Goldberg does suggest as much above.* He further notes.
I have never seen a breach quite like this. It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters—not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action. And, of course, I’ve never heard of an instance in which a journalist has been invited to such a discussion.
Conceivably, Waltz, by coordinating a national-security-related action over Signal, may have violated several provisions of the Espionage Act, which governs the handling of “national defense” information, according to several national-security lawyers interviewed by my colleague Shane Harris for this story. Harris asked them to consider a hypothetical scenario in which a senior U.S. official creates a Signal thread for the express purpose of sharing information with Cabinet officials about an active military operation. He did not show them the actual Signal messages or tell them specifically what had occurred.
Seems like something people in the government ought to know.
In terms of the actual encounter with Signal, Golberg recounts.
It was the next morning, Saturday, March 15, when this story became truly bizarre.
At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled “Pete Hegseth” posted in Signal a “TEAM UPDATE.” I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.
Well, at least Goldberg is more responsible than the SecDef.
The carelessness of all of this is stunning. I am sure everyone has been on a text chain wherein there were numbers you didn’t recognize. And anyone with any sense knows that that is a mind field. A wayward remark on a familty text chain without knowing for sure who 555-867-5309 is and you may create a decades-long feud. I used get included in text chains from the Chancellor to huge groups of people, and I would frequently not know who all the people on the chain were. Best to keep quiet unless you know for sure.
Hegseth is the idiot who texted out about the surprise party for Grandma without making sure Grandma wasn’t on that text chain.
The irresponsibility here is staggering.
Again, back to Goldberg.
Earlier today, I emailed Waltz and sent him a message on his Signal account. I also wrote to Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard, and other officials. In an email, I outlined some of my questions: Is the “Houthi PC small group” a genuine Signal thread? Did they know that I was included in this group? Was I (on the off chance) included on purpose? If not, who did they think I was? Did anyone realize who I was when I was added, or when I removed myself from the group? Do senior Trump-administration officials use Signal regularly for sensitive discussions? Do the officials believe that the use of such a channel could endanger American personnel?
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, responded two hours later, confirming the veracity of the Signal group. “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Hughes wrote. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
I commend the whole thing (gift link above). Goldberg texts in which Vance seems to not be on the same page as Trump. And he also details some legal implications of the interactions.
Again: these are the people who supposedly want to “fix” the federal government, and rearrange the global order.
See, also:
- Axios: “Heads should roll”: Congress erupts over stunning Trump admin leak.
- Politico: ‘Amateur hour’: Washington aghast at Trump administration’s war plan group chat.
*It is almost comedic that there have been suggestions of using Signal by the OTB community, a blog for crying out loud, only to learn that high-level national security business was being conducted on it.
But imagine if one of us has a chance to expose top secret national security blunders!
Oh, and to name the blunderers.
Emphasis added because JFC if there’s one thing this entire f*ck up is NOT, it is “deep & thoughtful.”
That’s some attempt at spin, right there. Between that and Trump’s go-to response of The Atlantic being a failing newspaper or whatever, these people cannot be allowed to get away with this.
Also, because we all probably need it, this is my favorite meme I think on this topic.
To expect competence from an Administration Team that was hired, not on the basis of competence – but on their adherence to the message that the Federal administrative state needs to be torn down and rebuilt on the basis of a non-DEI, non-CRT, non-experienced, non-technocratic, and deconstructed model of the Federal government going forward – seemed somewhat unrealistic from the outset, now we know that it was completely unrealistic.
This is illegal. You’re supposed to conduct government business on government approved devices – for several important reasons.
1. Security.
2. Presidential Records
3. Accountability.
On the Signal App, messages and entire text chains can be deleted automatically. These conversations are being had on Signal to specifically ignore the requirements to keep Executive Branch records of conversations and events.
If they’re doing this with National Security, you can be certain that they’re doing it with DOGE, and every other aspect of Government. We may never know what conversations happened because, unlike previous administrations, where this sort of conversation was had face to face in a SCIF, it’s now happening on a public platform that anyone can download onto their phone.
The incompetence is staggering. The hubris is staggering. The fact that nothing will be done about it is staggering.
But I’m sure Andy will be along shortly to tell me I’m overreacting.
Two things struck me right off the bat: SecDef argues restoring freedom of navigation is a “core national interest” but simultaneously gripes about European “freeloading” off of what is ostensibly America’s efforts to protect and advance its “core national interest.” Make that make sense.
Second thing that got my attention is the VP’s comment, “I will say a prayer for victory,” and the prayer hands endorsement of two others on the chat. The “Gott Mit Uns” vibe is ominous. These people are callous, dangerous, and believe their God is on their side.
None of this is going to end well.
@EddieInDR:
@DeD:
Things kind of make more sense if you consider it’s a government by a wannabe mafia boss, who’s already been convicted on 34 criminal charges.
Are any of our (former?) allies still sharing intelligence with us? And if so, why?
@Kathy:
I’m betting Rule 34 applies.
@Jen:
Any news outlet that doesn’t slobber all over Trump is by his reckoning failing.
Oh, Dr. Taylor,
I wrote on Signal in a group chat:
Two things of note:
1. When I copied that over nothing indicated to anyone else that I copied that, unlike Snapchat.
2. My raver group chat (on Snapchat) where actual drug users talk about using actual drugs has better opsec than the FUCKING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.
See Stormy! What did I tell you, Signal is the messaging app of paranoid Transes, drunk lunatics, and Jeff Fucking Goldberg.
Jeffery Goldberg on NPR today: the administration needs to improve its “digital hygiene.”
Digital hygiene? Hygiene of digits? —- high hopes for a DefSec that revels in not washing his hands.
Via LGM
“JPG“
@charontwo:
Yoink!
@Rob1:
Perhaps a breathalyzer lock on Heg’s phone?
We went from Biden’s capable, stable DEI hires to Trump’s unqualified, bungling DUI hires. Somehow, it’s always always the most incompetent, mediocre, reckless bigots who love to falsely smear educated minorities as unqualified.
Mass incompetence aside, they are all such amoral cheap trash. They don’t care about anything, Israel included. I hate Jeff Goldberg with burning passion, but he at least became a Kahanist because Zionism meant something real to him, twisted as that was. Imagine even pretending to like Pete Hegseth, a guy whose own mother called him a piece of shit.
@EddieInDR:
Geez, why’s Andy catching strays? Tough crowd lol
Is there really criminal behavior here, aside from the criminal stupidity? The Bush White House’s private server broke no laws, apparently. Colin Powell’s private email was allowed. Hillary’s overhyped server broke no laws. Comey and Republican legislators apparently broke no laws using private email while flogging their But Her Emails national bitch hunt.
The Trump White House used unsecured phones during King Donald VIII’s failed first term — even though Emailghazigatepalooza prompted, I think, an official change in records rules. Can’t recall whether this change was statutory or just honor system.
But at least up until 2016 created a new double standard for ambitious women who commit the crime of challenging the Anerikkkan patriarchy while being backed by black voters, cabinet level national security officials were understood to have both wide latitude in curating their communications and some not insignificant declassification power.
What’s stands out here is not the illegality, but the hypocrisy and sheer level of dangerously incompetent recklessness. In Hillary’s emails, after all, there was nothing sensitive as imminent strike plans, dripping contempt for important allies, and VP critique of the president. Cringe af.
I’m sure we all remember how much endless gnashing of teeth Hillary received for conducting government business, and even transmitting a few classified documents, over an unsecure network. Well, Signal, though it’s not SMS and is relatively secure as I understand it, is by no means an approved, secure network. And the content sounds 1000 times more sensitive than whatever Hillary did. What else have they been using it for?
Duncery, but MAGA won’t care.
The entire concept of IMEC [of which eliminating/suppressing the Houthis is a part] is a really dumb Rube Goldberg project which will serve only to waste scarce resources. At least PNAC has moved away from conducting foreign policy based solely on a list of countries to blow up. However, both the overall strategy and the specific tactics of this strike on Yemen are entirely nonsense – and I expect nothing better from Hegseth.
@DK:
Well, it’s probably because they are the ones who stand to gain the most by excluding the competent “DEI” people. Right? Maybe you knew that?
@Jay L Gischer: Until reading you just now, I never considered they might be trying to eliminate stronger competitors, Survivor-style. I didn’t think they were clever enough to so scheme.
But now that you mention it, yes, some are that cunning and devious.
@Beth: I did download Signal this afternoon.
I mean, if it is good enough for national security secrets, it is good enough for me!
@DK: Once upon a time, I spent every day with the Golden Horde (as we called ourselves) discussing stuff on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog.
Coates repeatedly emphasized that whenever one scratched the surface of racism (or sexism, etc), you could find a motivation for personal profit. It is such an important principal that I have seen play out many times in the intervening 15 years.
I just want to observe that I wasn’t the one who thought of this. I think this idea is what is driving the anti-immigrant fever, too. Somehow prospects will be better for the mediocre if we get rid of all those foreigners.
@DK:
Yes, likely multiple violations of the espionage act.
Excellent rundown here: https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/six-short-thoughts-on-the-most-insane-trump-story-of-all-time
And I agree with you on the recklessness, hypocrisy, and stupidity of it all.
Their boss kept classified national security documents in the shitter of his tacky wedding venue. And you’re surprised??? Seriously?
WAIT!! 555-867-5309 is Jenny‘s number!!!
Unless she’s changed it…
Any military officer who allowed a breach of this nature would be immediately sanctioned including if he/she was in command being relieved of command and possibly facing court martial. That should also apply to the Secretary of Defense, but with Trump that will never happen. Somehow this will be Biden’s fault.
@Modulo Myself:
https://youtu.be/b_29yvYpf4w?si=xB8laGwSiCUzSIEG
It’s been pointed out already, but I think it’s worth reiterating: the use of signal, which has end to end encryption, auto message deletion, etc., is not because it’s secure against foreign spying. They are using it because it keeps their messages hidden from the USA.
(Unless, of course, you add random yahoos to the group chat.)
@Kathy: The Trump Administration is like a clipper underway on a Pacific crossing. Every such incident is just one more hole drilled beneath the waterline. Sooner or later, it’s going to capsize.
@Jen:
“They” don’t want to know what they don’t know.
@EddieInDR:
I’m on vacation in the boonies with the fam, so have mostly been offline. But my little birdy told me my name was mentioned here and surprise, it’s you!
I really don’t understand your obsession with me and your desire to tone-police me simply because I disagree with you on some things regarding the scale of the situation we’re in. Is this what you call resistance? Bravely fleeing the country and then whining online about strangers you don’t like?
Anyway, it may surprise you that I agree with most of the substantive parts of what you wrote. My only quibble is that the security implications are a much greater concern and far more illegal than mere records retention policies, which weren’t even a crime the last time I checked and which Democrats like you didn’t give a shit about in 2016.
Remember that I’m the guy who takes security and classified information seriously as a matter of principle, not just when a partisan enemy does something stupid or onerous. This time is no exception!
I could go into specifics, and I would, except that I’m on vacation and this thread already seems dead. So you may not even see this. Maybe next week if this story is still a thing.