An internal investigation revealed how an editor became entangled in sensitive communications after being mistakenly added to a Signal group chat used by high-ranking Trump administration officials to discuss imminent military operations.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, inadvertently found himself privy to classified discussions involving planned strikes against Houthi targets, hours before the operation commenced. According to three individuals briefed on the matter, national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly included Goldberg in the Signal chat, named “Houthi PC small group,” on March 13.
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The mishap originated from an earlier interaction, as Goldberg had emailed the Trump campaign regarding a critical story about Trump’s perceived attitudes toward wounded military personnel. The Guardian reported, “According to three people briefed on the internal investigation, Goldberg had emailed the campaign about a story that criticized Trump for his attitude towards wounded service members. To push back against the story, the campaign enlisted the help of Waltz, their national security surrogate.”
The White House’s forensic investigation discovered that Goldberg’s email was forwarded by Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes, who copied Goldberg’s signature block, including his phone number, into a text message sent to Waltz. “Waltz did not ultimately call Goldberg, the people said, but in an extraordinary twist, inadvertently ended up saving Goldberg’s number in his iPhone – under the contact card for Hughes, now the spokesperson for the national security council,” reported The Guardian.
Waltz’s phone then mistakenly added Goldberg’s number during a routine “contact suggestion update,” a feature that automatically adds unknown numbers to related existing contacts. Waltz himself stated Goldberg’s number was inexplicably “sucked” into his device, unnoticed until last month when the erroneous addition occurred.
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Despite calls for his firing, Waltz has retained his position due to the White House authorizing the use of Signal for sensitive communications, a platform known for automatically deleting messages after viewing. The administration, continuing the precedent set by its predecessor, had not established a secure alternative for real-time text communication across multiple agencies.
“As a temporary solution, the Trump White House told officials to use Signal as they had done during the transition instead of regular text-message chains,” according to The Guardian. The White House has declined to comment on the matter, and the investigation did not determine the full extent of Waltz’s relationship with Goldberg. Goldberg himself provided a brief statement regarding the incident, saying, “I’m not going to comment on my relationship with Mike Waltz beyond saying I do know him and have spoken to him.”
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