National Security Advisor Mike Waltz may have violated the Espionage Act by coordinating a group chat where classified information regarding an attack on the Houthis was discussed, lawyers consulted by The Atlantic said.
The possibility was raised by outlet editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg after being inadvertently added to the group chat on the Signal messaging app, where over a dozen high-ranking officials discussed the military operation that ended up being carried out on March 15.
After confirming the group was real, Goldberg directed colleague Shane Harris to interview different lawyers and ask them about a scenario where a senior U.S. official created a Signal threat to share and discuss information with Cabinet officials about an active military operations.
The lawyers told The Atlantic that U.S. officials should not establish threads in Signal with those purposes as the information would likely fit the definition of "national defense" information and the app is not cleared by the government to be used with that purpose. Alternatives are devices and channels approved by the government, like SCIF facilities. And even if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials have the ability to declassify information, Signal is not the place to do so even if it has been.
The outlet added that setting messages to disappear after a period of time could also be violating the federal records law, as messages about official acts should be preserved. Goldberg detailed that the officials "were already potentially violating government policy and the law simply by texting one another about the operation," but adding him to the chat created "new security and legal issues."
Waltz, Hegseth and other officials are being slammed online over the matter. "Pete Hegseth texting out war plans like invites to a frat party," said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz when reacting to the story.
Other top Democratic officials piled on. Illinois Governor JB Pritzer said that the "incompetence of the Trump administration is putting us at risk at home and abroad," while Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego also expressed dismay, saying: "If I handled classified and sensitive information in this way when I was in the Marines... oh boy..."
President Donald Trump, on his end, dismissed the matter, instead criticizing The Atlantic. ""I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic. To be it's a magazine that's going out of business. But I know nothing about it. You're saying that they had what?" he told press on Monday.
"The attack was very effective I can tell you that. I don't know anything about it, you're telling me about it for the first time," Trump added.
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