What happened when a U.S. Senator was on a Small Group: Security officials had no idea what they had been up to in the White House

Goldberg saw the plans after he was added to a chat called “Houth PC small group” by the user named Michael who was a national security adviser. “It was a chilling thing to realize that I’ve inadvertently discovered a massive security breach in the national security system of the United States,” Goldberg told NPR’s All Thing Considered.

“Any one of us that served in the military or serve in the military would be in Leavenworth if we did this,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, said via X.

The deputy U.N. Ambassador to the U.N. has told NPR that “heads are exploding” as he recalls conversations with his former colleagues about Trump officials’ Signal chat.

National security officials go to great lengths to keep their secrets when discussing military operations. The Principal’s Committee is a body that generally includes the heads of departments or agencies, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The most secure place within the U.S. government for meetings of the Principals Committee is the White House Situation Room.

Such conversations are supposed to take place in a room called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which top-ranking officials have in their homes and offices.

“This is a top- secret network that beams them into the White House Situation Room, if a member is traveling”, Price said, adding that if a national security team accompanies them to set up a secure tent and other equipment.

Reply to Goldberg’s Tweet on the Security of the Message App, a Public Security Warning from a Top Trump Administration Official

Goldberg told NPR on Monday that Hegseth shared “operational military information” that included targets, weapons and attack sequencing. Goldberg decided not to provide more information because he thought it was too sensitive to share more widely.

Goldberg did not share what he said could be damaging elements of the communications sent to him, including what he called “operational details of forthcoming strikes.”

The app is public and has a reputation for being strong in security. It is not part of the communications network used when sensitive information is being discussed.

Government communication usually occur via official devices and through elaborate security measures, not using open-sourced software, say experts.

Last week an email went out from the Pentagon warning staff of a vulnerability in the messaging app. The notice cited risks from “Russian professional hacking groups” working to spy on encrypted communications. The notice was apparently sent days after Goldberg told Waltz that he had somehow been added to the PC group, and left the chat.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday echoed Trump administration claims that no war plans or classified information was shared on the group chat.

Democratic senators on the intelligence committee forcefully rejected the claims of the director of the CIA and director of national intelligence.

The hearing, which was previously scheduled, took place just a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that a top Trump administration official mistakenly added him to a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal about highly sensitive plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen.

“My communications, to be clear, in a Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information,” Ratcliffe testified.

She denied that she was on the Signal chat group, but said that she had not shared any classified information outside of proper channels.

The group of people who participated in the text chain included Defense Secretary Pete Hegshe and Vice President John D. Fisk, according to Goldberg.

“If there was no classified material, share it with the committee,” Warner said. You can’t have it both ways. These jobs are important. This is our national security.

The National Security Council reveals that Mr. Goldberg and the FBI never shared classified information in a chat with the group “Signal War Plans”

Goldberg initially thought it might be a hoax but after reading texts over the course of several days he decided it was real. He said that he must have accidentally joined the group. He surmised that the person handling the account was intending to include someone with the same initials as Goldberg.

The National Security Council confirmed at the White House on Monday that the thread was authentic, saying that they were looking at how a mistake was made in the chain.

The security breech raises questions about how the administration handles sensitive information, according to both sides of the aisle.

Democrats in Congress had roundly criticized many of Trump’s security and intelligence picks for their perceived lack of experience during the nomination process — and are now calling for further investigation.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer both called for an investigation of the national security incident.

The chairman of the Senate armed services committee said they were concerned and would look into it.

Other Republicans have been more direct with their alarm, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who serves on the Intelligence Committee. Collins said the incident was “inconceivable to me.”

Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Rounds suggested the committee might have a deeper discussion about the incident behind closed doors.

“I don’t think it was a good thing, but I want to hear an explanation of it from the individuals involved in it in a classified setting so I get the full story before I make a judgement on it,” Rounds told NPR.

Source: Intelligence leaders: We didn’t share classified information in Signal chat group

Rep. Mike Lawler’s Sensitive Sentiment to Uncertainties in Broadcast Communications on the Internet, and an apology to “The Government is taking a stand”

In the House, Republicans have largely been more muted. It was not during the House GOP weekly meeting that the issue was brought up.

“Obviously that was a mistake, and a serious one,” he said. Johnson described the participants in the chat as patriotic.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., tweeted that classified information should “not be transmitted on unsecured channels — and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters.”