Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) panned the Trump administration over Monday’s “stunning” report that top officials used an unauthorized messaging platform to discuss planned attacks against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, calling the move “amateurish.”
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg on Monday reported that national security adviser Mike Waltz invited him to a Signal group chat in which top officials debated and then discussed details of attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Ahead of the attack, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid out details including weapons used, targets and timing, according to Goldberg.
Schumer pressed for a full investigation into the revelation, which he dubbed “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I’ve read about in a very, very long time.”
“It’s bad enough that a private citizen was added to this chain, but it’s far worse that sensitive military information was exchanged on an unauthorized application, especially when that sensitive military information was so, so important,” Schumer said in remarks on the floor, calling Signal an “unsecure” app.
“This debacle requires a full investigation into how it happened, the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future,” he continued. “If our nation’s military secrets are being peddled around over unsecure text chains, we need to know that at once and we need to put a stop to it immediately.”
Schumer also referenced an oft-used GOP attack against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email server.
“If you were up in arms over unsecure emails years ago, you should certainly be outraged by this amateurish behavior,” he said.
According to Goldberg, the group chat also included Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
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