The U.S. Treasury Department initially stood alone in providing a timeline to the court regarding retrieved messages. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had received a preservation memo on March 26, as noted by the acting general counsel, along with advice on his obligation to preserve records. Consequently, images were taken from the phones of Secretary Bessent and his chief of staff, Daniel Katz. The messages date back to 1:48 pm EST on March 15, 2025.
Anthony stated that an Atlantic article covered a chat that occurred between March 11 and 15, and it appears that most of the information was lost from the only defendant who provided clear details about what could be saved.
The Department of Defense informed the court last month that its attorneys were in the process of adhering to preservation rules and had instructed Secretary Hegseth’s communications team to forward Signal messages to an official DOD account. When pressed for more information, the DOD stated on Monday that a search of Hegseth’s device was conducted around March 27, and that screenshots of existing Signal application messages had been preserved.
Lawyers from American Oversight urged the court to demand more specificity, arguing on April 4 that vague and incomplete assertions by the government had only heightened skepticism regarding their preservation efforts. They contended that recent reporting highlighted grossly inadequate responses from the government. Politico had reported two days earlier that Waltz’s team had initiated at least 20 private Signal group chats involving several cabinet officials.
Anthony expressed the likelihood that the defendants involved in their lawsuit were probably participants in some of those other chats, signaling a broader issue.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice opposed court involvement, arguing that efforts made on behalf of a watchdog group were legally misdirected, with the question of any legal violations being moot. The department emphasized that the public has no enforceable rights regarding the challenge of particular government records destruction. They argued that a court order was unnecessary, as the government was taking the required steps, and a partial version of the chat was already integrated into a federal record-keeping system by at least one agency.
Recent disclosures provided several dates concerning preservation efforts across various agencies, including the date Hegseth’s phone was searched. Screenshots of Marco Rubio’s phone chats were captured on March 27, according to the State Department. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported taking screenshots on March 28, while the CIA took a screenshot on March 31, clarifying that the image primarily included the name of the chat group, its members, and settings, but not any substantive messages.
American Oversight previewed a case to amend its initial complaint during a recent hearing, with plans to encourage the court to broaden its review to include the reported extensive use of Signal by top national security officials.
Chukwu remarked on the situation, stating that the attack on government transparency poses a threat to the foundation of democracy, and affirmed their commitment to using every legal tool to uncover the truth and hold those responsible accountable.
