On March 26, 2025
Opinions

Capitol Quotes: Defense lapse

It was the war plans group chat heard around
the world. The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg received a request to connect on the encrypted messaging app Signal from a user named “Mike Waltz” (possibly the Trump administration’s national security adviser) on March 1. Goldberg was later added to a group chat called “Houthi PC small group” with several other members who appeared to be top administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. According to Goldberg’s claims, the group chat discussed sensitive operational information on upcoming air strikes in Yemen.

It’s “the highest level of f***-up imaginable. These people cannot keep America safe.”

said Navy veteran Pete Buttigieg on TikTok.

“Only one word for this: FUBAR. If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self,” 

said Army veteran and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) on X.

“The administration is addressing what happened, apparently, an inadvertent phone number made it onto that thread. They’re going to track that down and make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” 

said House Speaker Mike Johnson downplaying the seriousness of the critical security failure.

“Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin. Here are the facts about his latest story: 1. No ‘war plans’ were discussed 2. No classified material was sent to the thread. 3. The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump’s top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible,”

 said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.

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