Ritchie Torres proposes bill to criminalize sharing classified info on Signal – Washington Examiner
A House Democrat, Rep. Ritchie Torres from New York, is proposing a bill aimed at criminalizing the sharing of classified facts through external messaging platforms like Signal. This initiative follows a recent incident where national security adviser Mike Waltz inadvertently added a journalist to a sensitive group chat discussing military actions against the Houthis, prompting bipartisan concerns from Congress. the proposed legislation,named the “Homeland Operations and Unilateral Tactics Halting Incursions: Preventing Coordinated Subversion,Military Aggression and Lawless Levies Granting Rogue Operatives Unchecked Power Act,” imposes harsh penalties,including five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violations. Torres emphasizes that this law would incentivize better management of classified data and calls for the dismissal of officials involved in the breach, stating that the misuse of the insecure app could have jeopardized lives.
House Democrat proposes bill to criminalize sharing classified information on Signal
A House Democrat is introducing a bill to criminalize sharing classified information using outside messaging platforms, such as Signal, after national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added a journalist to a group chat discussing military strikes on the Houthis.
Following a bipartisan outcry from Congress, Rep. Ritchie Torres’s (D-NY) proposition would aim to prevent similar incidents to the one that occurred Monday when Waltz accidentally added Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat with Trump administration officials talking about military plans.
The bill is called the Homeland Operations and Unilateral Tactics Halting Incursions: Preventing Coordinated Subversion, Military Aggression and Lawless Levies Granting Rogue Operatives Unchecked Power Act or HOUTHI PC SMALL GROUP Act.
The bill’s name refers to the Trump administration group chat Goldberg was added to: “Houthi PC Small Group.”
Violators of the law would face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Torres’s office told Axios.
Speaking with Twitch streamer imreallyimportant, Torres said the law would provide a “powerful incentive for the proper handling of classified information.” He also called for the firing of all those involved in the Signal group chat scandal.
“But everyone involved should be fired. The defense secretary should be fired. The national security adviser should be fired, like, the breach of classified information was so outrageous that it could have put lives at risk,” he said.
HOW SECURE IS SIGNAL? GROUP CHAT SNAFU RAISES QUESTIONS OVER APP SECURITY
Torres said communication on the “insecure Signal app could easily be intercepted by the Russians.” Experts told the Washington Examiner that Signal is the most secure public messaging app and all but immune to hacking. However, hackers could compromise the devices the app is downloaded onto.
The New York Democrat repeated the claim that Witkoff “was purportedly in Russia during the time of these communications.” Witkoff and the White House clarified that he only took a secure government device with him to Russia. Pictures of the Signal group chat show he didn’t send any messages until he returned to the United States.
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