Topline
The White House on Monday said it was “moving forward” from the fallout surrounding the leak of sensitive military plans to a journalist in a Signal group chat among top administration officials—even as some Republicans push for an independent investigation.
Key Facts
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters “this case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned,” adding “there have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again . . . we’re moving forward.”
Leavitt’s comments come as some Republican lawmakers push for an independent investigation into how National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared a detailed timeline for attacking the Houthi rebel group in Yemen earlier this month.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was the latest Republican to break with the Trump administration in publicly calling for an independent investigation into the leak, telling CNN on Sunday it “raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information,” though no Republicans have publicly called on any administration officials to be fired over the incident.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chair of the Armed Services Committee, and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., also asked the Pentagon’s inspector general last week to investigate an inquiry and report back to Congress, including relaying “any remedial actions taken” and “whether any individuals transferred classified information.”
Trump, meanwhile, has publicly stood by Waltz and Hegseth—despite reports that Waltz’s job was on the line and some Democrats calling for one or both to resign—accusing the media and “Radical Left” of a “Witch Hunt,” calling the story “old and boring” and alleging his detractors are using it to distract from what he called “the most successful ‘First One Hundred Presidential Days’ in the history of America.”
Tangent
Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested last week her office wouldn’t file any criminal charges related to the leak, amid speculation it could have violated the Espionage Act that prohibits the mishandling of national defense information. Comparisons have also been drawn to the Justice Department’s probes into Trump’s, former President Joe Biden’s and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information. “It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released,” Bondi told reporters last week. Trump’s Cabinet officials, including Bondi, Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have also claimed the information shared in the chat wasn’t classified at the time. Some former intelligence officials and Democrats have disputed the White House narrative, however, arguing military members in Yemen could have been endangered had the information been leaked to foreign adversaries prior to the attack.
Key Background
Goldberg revealed last week he had been added to a Signal group chat among top administration officials, including Hegseth, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Gabbard, Ratcliffe and others earlier this month and was on the message chain as they discussed the U.S. military’s plans for attacking the Houthis hours before the first strikes occurred on March 15. Hegseth claimed no “war plans” were discussed, though The Atlantic published screenshots of the messages Wednesday that showed Hegseth texting precise times, weaponry and targets, including one message that read “THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP.” Waltz admitted to adding Goldberg to the chat, and told Fox News he made the error because Goldberg’s number was stored under someone else’s name in his contact list, but insisted he doesn’t know the editor personally.
Further Reading
Signal Chat Leak: Trump Baselessly Suggests App ‘Defective’ (Forbes)
Waltz Says He Doesn’t Know Atlantic Editor He Invited To War Chat—As Trump Defends Aide (Forbes)
Top Armed Services Committee Republican Calls For Inspector General Probe On Signal Chat (Forbes)