There’s Nothing But Politics To The Signal Chat Hullabaloo

When the Jeffrey Goldberg piece in The Atlantic on the National Security Council Signal chat reached my desk (or phone rather), my eyes immediately rolled to the back of my head. Goldberg’s reporting is not trustworthy and must be taken with a grain of salt. He is the author of the now debunked “suckers and losers” piece from 2020. Twenty-seven sources went on the record to disprove his claim that President Trump called World War I heroes derogatory terms. So, when this story popped up, I approached it with an objective and skeptical eye.

Upon reading the headline, the byline, and the first few sentences, I knew this would be a nothing-burger. As a former intelligence professional, I immediately knew that no classified information could have been shared — and that the only thing that could be shared would be coordinating efforts. I was proven correct as I read Goldberg’s perspective on the chat once I read the full story. The piece concluded with the fact that indeed this group chat and its contents were authentic and real. My conclusion was that this group chat, while it should not have included a journalist, was essentially harmless and pales in comparison to the egregious acts Washington has seen from elected leaders.

The ridiculous calls for resignations and arrests across the board are silly. Today’s most critical voices displayed no such moral grandstanding and outcry when it was discovered that Hillary Clinton discussed and transmitted actual classified information on her own private, personal devices and servers. Where were the calls for resignation from Rep. Eric Swalwell when he not only employed a known Chinese spy, but also engaged in a romantic relationship with her? Mostly, where is the accountability from the Biden administration when 13 American soldiers were killed at Abbey Gate during the disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan? (News flash: there has yet to be anyone put forth to take responsibility for those actions).

This Signal chat, at most, was a simple mistake during an otherwise flawless execution of a heroic mission. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz should not resign or be fired. And while Waltz said he takes full responsibility for the chat, he needs to investigate and explain exactly how and why Goldberg was added to the chain. Taking full responsibility means communicating that information with transparency.

Many Americans do not know what Signal is. However, it is a mainstay in the Washington, D.C. bubble. In fact, the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encouraged the use of the Signal app by high-level government officials due to its end-to-end encryption and safeguards against potential adversarial hackers.

The use of Signal by the Trump administration’s national security leadership demonstrated that this qualified group of individuals strategically thought through policy considerations on the way to accomplishing a successful mission. As a former Trump administration official, I am confident that the teams involved did coordinate some elements of the Houthi missile strike via official government email and “high side” classified systems — a term referencing a computer system specifically housing classified information. However, that sort of effort involves career and civilian support, where those types of employees are not privy to the conversations like the one discussed in the Signal chat.

The conversation, in fact, was exactly the kind we would hope these leaders would have. It was a thoughtful, deliberative text chain that did not include classified information. Remember, there is a very significant difference between policy and reported intelligence.

What we saw in the text chain was a robust policy discussion, where ultimately the president’s commands were carried out with mission success. There is no way that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth copy and pasted classified information onto Signal. Department of Defense classified networks are highly protected and a Signal app would not have been able to be accessed in a SCIF. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed no classified details were shared in the chat during her Senate Intelligence Committee hearing earlier this week.

As the investigation of the Signal chat continues, I believe we will find that an honest mistake was made to include a journalist on the text chain, and that likely will never happen again. More importantly, maybe the legacy media will recognize that despite the unconventional forum in which this policy discussion occurred, a serious threat to America and its allies was neutralized after the Biden administration failed to do anything about it in the past four years.

When the 9/11 Commission released its findings, it concluded that there was very little communication and coordination among agencies and the Intelligence Community. Shouldn’t we be glad our leaders are talking to each other, and are in lockstep with the president?

Teresa Morgenstern is the co-owner and operator of Win The Futures Strategies. She is a former Trump Administration official having served in the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Commerce, and the State Department.