Signalgate: President Trump Stands by Mike Waltz – Attributing Signal App Issue to Waltz Staffer Who Accidentally Added Journalist
The rest of the DC setup is transparently clear. (1) Goldberg held the story until the day before a long-scheduled Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. (2) The SSCI then used the hearing to blast the heads of the Trump administration intelligence silos on the issue of “classified” information in the text messages.
♦ The next act in this well-known performance will be for Democrats to demand the release of the Signal App transcript, if it’s not classified, then there’s nothing to hide.
♦ Public pressure via narrative drum-pounding will continue to increase, until the chat messages are released to congress. [Keep in mind, Jeffrey Goldberg likely already has them.]
♦ Everyone in the chat group will then be told they must recuse themselves from internal silo determinations as to the classified status of the conversation. More public pressure will be generated to achieve this “position of conflict” demand.
♦ The Intelligence Community, without the heads of the silos – likely leveraging the internal investigative agents of the FBI (INSD), will then say the content of the chat was indeed classified, TSCI level. There will be weeks and months of leaks to the media as each granular detail is discussed ad infinitum.
♦ The cabinet members will then face the drumbeat of resignation demands, and/or useful impeachment fodder for ‘lying to congress’ during today’s Senate Select Committee on Intelligence testimony.
At least that should be the anticipated approach by the “Seven Ways from Sunday” group, who operate to defend the interests of the Intelligence Community from agency heads like those who were on the Signal App chat group.
We’ve all watched this play before.
Atlantic editor's coy response to killer question about cabinet 'war plans' group text on Signal
Goldberg insisted there was more he didn't publish 'because it was too consequential, too technical and I worry that sharing that information in public could be harmful to American military personnel.'
The story blew up the internet when it was posted and several critics asked why the administration was discussing sensitive material on an app instead of government systems designed to communicate classified data.
When asked by media reporter Oliver Darcy what he did with the phone he received the messages on, Goldberg had a coy response.
'I'm not commenting on the world of my devices,' Goldberg said.
He also told Darcy he was not concerned about retaliation from federal authorities for publishing some of the messages.
'I worry about getting the story right and making sure that I shared with the public what I think the public should know,' Goldberg said. 'And if people want to threaten or intimidate the press, I'm ready for it.'
Goldberg revealed on Tuesday he is considering releasing more of the group chat messages.
'My colleagues and I and the people who are giving us advice on this have some interesting conversations to have about this,' Goldberg told Tim Miller on the Bulwark Podcast.
Trump Speaks Out on National Security Advisor's Fate After Signal Report
However, it appears Trump is not on board with that idea. During an interview with NBC News, Trump said, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.”
These were the first comments Trump has made on the story since Goldberg published his report.
Predictably, Democrats and their allies in the activist media have pounced on the story, using it to smear the Trump administration. Republicans have countered their attacks by pointing out how the president and his team took serious action against the Houthi terrorists who have been attacking U.S. ships traveling through the Suez Canal.
The Atlantic's Signal Story Is Quickly Falling Apart
It’s a warning that perhaps more administrative due diligence should be applied when creating these group chats on encrypted and secure messenger apps. Still, while alarming at first, the hubbub is dying down quickly. This story in The Atlantic that secret war plans were disclosed to known anti-Trump fake news writer Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the group, is falling apart faster than a skiff made of paper.
Was it an unforced error by the Trump team? One hundred percent—they’re no angels here, but no classified information was disclosed. There were no war plans. We have a bunch of top officials speaking candidly and in generalities about anti-Houthi operations. These were unclassified discussions, and Signal is an approved app. Biden’s people used it. It was already downloaded on the devices of the principals involved. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was on tho
