During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Democratic senators sharply questioned top U.S. security officials regarding their involvement in a Signal group chat where war plans were mistakenly shared with a journalist. Among those voicing criticism was Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, who expressed disbelief over the situation, stating, “You’ve got this senior level of individuals communicating on this non-classified channel and plain sloppiness put a journalist on and nobody bothered to check who’s this other person on the line.”
The hearing took place a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed an accidental inclusion in a group chat with key security officials discussing sensitive military plans targeting Houthi forces in Yemen. Goldberg stated that he was not properly vetted before being added to this chat.
President Trump responded to questions after the hearing by downplaying the incident, claiming there was no classified information involved. The Pentagon had recently issued an advisory warning against using Signal for sharing even unclassified information due to identified vulnerabilities.
Warner characterized the actions of the nation’s intelligence leaders as “sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior.” He pointed out that military or intelligence officers engaging in similar conduct would face termination.
The discussion on Signal’s use continued, with Warner suggesting bipartisan support within the committee for further investigation, despite potential reluctance from some Republican members to address the matter publicly. Warner highlighted the importance of assessing whether any materials discussed in the chat sequence should have been classified, given the potential national security risks involved.
While discussing the possibility of releasing the chat content to the committee, Warner indicated that the Intelligence Committee seeks to maintain a non-partisan approach to oversight, stressing the need for transparency in evaluating the administration’s response to such breaches. Warner also pointed out previous security missteps by the administration, further underlining the importance of stringent information handling protocols.
NPR disclosed that Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation.
