Signalgate
I know I’m supposed to care deeply about Jeffrey Goldberg’s entrée into the administration’s Signal discussion of an attack in Yemen. And I probably should be writing more about it. But it’s just not of any real interest to me; it palls in significance to almost everything else going on in the US and the world, and was at worst an error that will hopefully never occur again and has not had any serious repercussions in terms of national security.
The most interesting thing about it is the question of whether it was a setup, but even that simply doesn’t interest me.
Sorry.
However, here are two links for you to peruse: this as well as this.
“Signalgate” = Nothingburgergate
goldberg is just upset we were actually killing Houthis, not like that EU taskforce that did nothing to stop the assault on Shipping and Israel in not that order,
recall that the international crisis group, where Malley, Blinken’s no 2, came from
urged we understand the Houthis and their virulent Jew hatred, I could understand their loathing of the Saudis for reasons,
Yep, at worse it was a mistake that fortunately did result in any American deaths; unlike Hillary and Libya. But the left will beat this drum loud and long. They will jump on anything that could hurt Trump.
Physicsguy: This is the only drum they have to beat. Up to this point all the Dems have had is lawfare against an administration that is exposing their financial irresponsibility and personal attacks on those exposing all the fraud. “How dare you show the taxpayers how much of their hard-earned money we flushed down all those NGO toilets….” is about the best they can do.
There have been times in the past where the paratroopers have been dropped in the wrong place or/and the landing craft on the wrong beach, that were reacted to with a comment along the lines of “It looks like our war starts here…” No one cancelled the entire operation.
Everyone makes mistakes. Accept it, learn from them and continue the march.
day ending in y, when there are actual casualties like benghazi or kabul airport, they slough it off, when missions go awry like in West Africa,
they made hay about
that was a full production by Frederika Wilson
it I have seen too many examples of the clown nose off, clown nose on behavior, many of those who chirp today, seem to have been silent like a basenghi in those instances
@Neo –
Did you choose “palls” on purpose, or is that a typo for “pales”? I think that the conventional wisdom would be that one would say that something “pales” in comparative significance, but I looked, and “palls”:
To become insipid, boring, or wearisome.
To have a dulling, wearisome, or boring effect.
To become cloyed or satiated.
Sounds about right. I like it.
“did NOT result”
I think everyone knows what I meant. I hate typing on my phone.
FWIW – The “setup” angle makes a lot of sense to me. I can’t imagine that Trump’s team is dumb enough to accidentally (or on purpose) invite a hostile journalist into a chat discussing sensitive matters. But Hegseth should not have provided operational details via this medium.
On the links, Glen Reynolds (or Shawn Farash, whose tweet he cites) is not up to date. There are other reports of the transcript showing Hegseth disclosing details of the operation in real time including disclosing the estimated arrival time of the aircraft several hours in advance. If the information was limited to what Reynolds/Farash noted, I think it would actually be a nothing burger.
On the PJ Media link, the pretzel logic makes my head spin. Goldberg admitted that the whole thing was a hoax because he initially wasn’t going to disclose the transcript, but then changed his mind when Hegseth lied about what was actually in the transcript. So this somehow proves that the whole thing was a hoax? The mind boggles.
I’m used to this kind of head-spinning nonsense from the left. It’s disheartening to see it from the right. Just admit you made a mistake.
Also, if Trump were to make heads roll, I think his approval would go up. And Hegseth would land softly at FoxNews or another network. Seems like a win-win to me.
I’m with Neo, I don’t care. I am much, much more concerned about the self immolation of the fed judiciary.
Throw someone to the wolves libby general flynn you are guaranteed to get more wolves if you havent been paying attention for 20 years
Im sure andrew mccarthy will volunteer his hot take if he hasnt already
Sounds like a CIA operation, like the Ukrainian phone call that was used as a basis for impeachment. Can Ratcliffe or Tulsi get them under control?
I’m used to this kind of head-spinning nonsense
==
Perhaps not a credible rebuke from someone performatively fixated on the news cycle’s latest shiny object.
Looks like the Left is going to keep going on this. The virulent anti judge that keeps trying to stop Trump will hear a case that is being brought against Trump admin.
Ironically the staffer who may have put goldberg on the chat was a hall monitor who was on about snowden that would be alex wong
https://www.racket.news/p/chatgate-senator-mark-warners-shifting
Accept it, learn from them and continue the march.
Pretty much my take. The Trump team is learning valuable lessons that will serve them well in the long term. I hope the left keeps phucking that chicken until the price of eggs comes down.
too bad Pinchas isn’t around to deal with traitor Zimri Goldberg.
I guess integrity is no longer a value in this country, even on the Right. Just admit you screwed up, express some sorrow and the desire to fix things and move on. Don’t dig yourself deeper, don’t wiggle incongruously like some b..ch.
Sheesh.
LL why not wait at least a few days and learn something before being the media’s b*itch. After all the media wouldn’t lie to you with a straight face?
It was a setup and yes, a nothingburger.
Not gonna dance to their fiddle tune.
Bauxite: just a comment. While time-over-target is an OPSEC concern, without linking it to a target and mission it would usually not be classified. It is likely (possibly?) Controlled Unclassified Information—CUI—per the operative Classification Guide—but not classified.
Apparently the Signal app has been approved for CUI (or equivalent) predating Trump47’s presidency. It is an open source America-based app, with reasonable encryption. I have and use it on my Android phone.
I hope you find this information useful.
I *am* concerned about this. How did Jeffery Goldberg get access to this thread on the most secure messaging app available? An innocent slip-up by one of the Trump team, or malfeasance, a la Butler PA? I don’t understand how Goldberg’s number got on Waltz’s phone, unless Goldberg called Waltz and Waltz’s phone saved Goldberg’s number. I don’t know if this is possible.
I think Goldberg is a scumbag, working for the AWFLs’ favorite magazine. And we have plenty of scumbags in the Deep State.
I have seen excerpts from the text thread enumerating types of attacks and their timeline. Looks like “war plans” to me.
Waltz’s face looked like Trump literally took him to the woodshed, but Trump is standing by him.
Regardless, the Trump Train rolls on. Prayers requested for Trump, Musk, their teams, and governors DeSantis and Abbott and their families!
@Bauxite. “I’m used to this kind of head-spinning nonsense from the left. It’s disheartening to see it from the right. Just admit you made a mistake.”
I feel the same way. We’ve lost the ability to impartially process information. And worse, many don’t seem to care.
Several commenters at Althouse, and I’ve seen it noted elsewhere as well, remarked that an operation of the complexity of the bombings has the details revealed to “non cleared” personnel well in advance of the two hours that were deduced from the Signal conversation, possibly up to 24 hours.
Bomb don’t load themselves onto planes.
Anyway, we may never know what really happened and it’s of little importance if Trump is not getting upset about it.
He has put the Musketeers on the case, and they will learn the facts even if we don’t ever get them.
And the Babylon Bee still has the best headline.
“Hegseth Kicking Himself For Not Just Getting 13 Soldiers Killed And Giving $80 Billion In Weapons To Terrorists”
Matt Taibbi’s remarks.
https://www.racket.news/p/chatgate-senator-mark-warners-shifting
“This is the same Mark Warner who was Vice-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee whose head of security, James A. Wolfe, was criminally convicted in 2018 of lying to the FBI about leaking the Carter Page FISA material to a pair of journalists. Warner didn’t invoke shock, crap or steroids in response to that leak, which led to stories calling a former Trump aide an “agent of a foreign power.” In fact, Warner wrote a letter to the judge in Wolfe’s case, Ketanji Brown Jackson, recommending leniency:… something about this story doesn’t smell right. More to come.”
It is imperative for The Right(TM) to admit they Made a Mistake. Just as soon as Dems admit they made a “mistake” in Afghanistan.
Apart from the gormlessness of putting a journalist in the group the mad thing is doing any of this on commercial software and phones. You can be sure all those phones will have been compromised- that’s why security services don’t use iPhones and WhatsApp for things they want to keep secret.
And this is the conversation the world knows about. What else have they discussed open to the view of the worlds spies?
Kim Philby is calling from Moscow for David Clayton.
CBI – How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Again, listen to yourself. The chat disclosed that we were launching an attack on the Houthis. It disclosed when different waves of planes took off. It disclosed the status of the mission at several points. It disclosed when the various waves of planes were arriving over the target. But you claim that none of this information was classified because it wasn’t linked to a specific target or mission?
So as long as they don’t disclose the specific anti-aircraft battery or ship being hit, the rest of the operational details are unclassified? I’m sorry. That’s ridiculous.
And not a single blessed individual on this thread would accept that rationalization if the parties were reversed.
And @miguel cervantes – Warner is a hypocrite? Of course he is. Absolutely everyone is a hypocrite on this one.
And if goldberg had leaked to his houthi friends it would have been a problem
Cisa remember them recommended this very app for govt use
As carl higbie pointed out the executor pilot operator gets the target package including details and coordinates
No you dont get it warner ran his committee like a saloon even when burr the gope mark was nominally in control thats how the Russia hoax was allowed to proceed
Much the same way the jan 6th destroyed evidence made up evidencd and destroyed lives
Much like paul weiss and jenner and block have done
miguel cervantes – The app was recommended for government use FOR NON-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ONLY. I’m not sure why that is so difficult to understand for the “defend everything Trump does at all costs” crowd.
The only reason we’re still talking about this is that team Trump is spewing such obvious nonsense to avoid a mea culpa. Good grief, just admit you screwed up. Maybe cashier Hegseth, maybe just have him give an apology, and then move on. Instead, we get this performative idiocy that drags on for days.
And yes, I get it. Warner is an abusive, hypocritical, embarrassment of a public servant. What dismays me is that Trump’s team is exactly the same thing. It’s entirely possible to fight back, and fight back hard, without becoming the same thing as your enemy.
Canned ClownCorn, empty calories.
Except they disallow everything they do and continue to destroy the country funding the taliban the houthis and every other scoundrel bygones be bygones this is a war the last man standing wins (this isnt metaphorical see butler pennsylvania) liz cheney and her gang which you really have no objections about
As i saying goldbergs objections was that they killed houthis he always has an excuse for them like the swarms of rabble that threatened jews for a year and a half that understandable passion because ‘genocide’ or some other claptrap
Of course they are all in for khalil nearly as much for mangione or tren de aragua (all innocent soccer goalies)
FOR NON-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ONLY
There was no classified information in the talk. Battle plans run to dozens of pages, and are briefed in advance, including to embedded reporters. What was discussed was more progress report and might be classified as for internal use. In any case, it’s over, and the only interesting bit is how Goldberg got invited. I can understand the desire to make an issue of this, but I don’t see it succeeding. Stay frustrated, guys.
CC™ takes The Atlantic transcript as “The Truth” and rows after The Great Orange Whale and his mini Minions.
With his mighty harpoon and lance CC™ is poised to stab and slay him, first Hegseth, then the foul beast.
No one but CC™ is righteous and brave enough to do it.
We are not worthy.
Do not have anything to contribute to this thread; however, what happened does remind me of two events that happened during the pre-video conference call days.
1) My firm does not discuss “War Plans” on conference calls, but we do discuss deals – and every conference call starts with a quick intro (name, role, company).
• On my side we are matching the intros to: a) the invite list, and b) the # of parties on the conference call line.
• If the intro names and headcount match the Invite list and # of parties on the line, we continue the meeting.
• Might strike some as being overcautious; however, we did have one meeting when the intro headcount did not match the # of parties on the line – one over.
• We repeated the intros – same result – then announced that we have more parties on the line than intros, we are going to end this call, and distribute new conference call specifics – please call back at x time.
• When we regrouped, the intro names and headcount matched the # of parties on the line, and we continued the meeting – no longer one over.
2) I had a buddy – another firm – who called into a conference call and was immediately met with a demand to identify himself.
• Which he did: “Bob Smith”, Senior Executive Role, XYZ Consulting – and then “Bob” asked who was he talking to.
• This is Hugh McColl^^, get the hxll off my call. Yes sir (click).
^^ = that name may not mean anything to most, but everyone in the wall street/ financial sector knew that name – NB > BOA CEO
It’s a passable wager that someone in Waltz’ office put Goldberg on the call or that some technician in the intelligence services has the means to do so contrary to the preferences of the participants in the call. Don’t see how this scamming around reflects badly on anyone but the supervisor of the perpetrator.
==
Goldberg isn’t spilling the beans on who his patron is.
Talking of really infamous spies, sleepers, moles and even the fictional Smiley, Bond and Bourne, one day Donald J Trump will eclipse them all and make Kim Philby and his treacherous colleagues in the Cambridge Five look like the innocuous “Famous Five” created by Enid Blyton. Why? Credible revelations from seven former KGB/FSB officers about Donald J Trump being a KGB agent or asset (codenamed Krasnov) since the 1970s were published recently on TheBurlingtonFiles website at https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2025.03.16.php.
The following KGB/FSB officers and defectors have disclosed (at great personal risk) that Donald Trump was a KGB/FSB agent or asset decades before he first became President of the USA: Yuri Shvets (KGB Major); Oleg Kalugin (KGB General); Alexander Litvinenko (assassinated FSB Officer); Viktor Suvorov (GRU Officer); Boris Karpichkov (KGB Major); Sergei Tretyakov (SVR Officer); and Alnur Mussayev (Kazakhstan’s KNB (National Security Committee) Chief). Perhaps things would have been different if Trump had read the enigmatic fact based spy thriller Beyond Enkription in TheBurlingtonFiles before taking on the US Presidency!
funny how one of the armorers for the Houthis is the fellow Biden sprung in return for the Lesbian athlete, along with a dozen other spies, hackers et al, like Putin’s no 1 button man, winning I tell you, maybe that was why Putin invaded Ukraine on Obama and Biden’s timetable,
Jim Brown:
Actually, I have it on good authority that Trump is a space alien.
How much do they pay you to make the rounds?
Don’t get it.
If Trump was/is/will be the extraordinary spy you claim he is, then WHY would he have to read the book?
Oh never mind. We all know he’s really an alien. That’s right, Queens has always contained some pretty, um, interesting “characters”…
tretyakov has been dead since Vienna 2010, when the Chapman ring, that was all around Hillary, skipped town back to Moscow, his ghosted memoir by Pete Earley, had a big laugh about Strobe Talbott being an easy mark, and Carl Sagan an even bigger one about ‘Nuclear Winter’ bring more plausible stories,
where did they have the 1964 World Fair again
“Credible revelations from seven former KGB/FSB officers”
If these revelations are “credible” it will be the first time ever something credible issued from either of those two outfits. And somehow I’m reminded of a previous comment of mine, “Democrats wanted to appease Russia for 70 years, now they’re trying to make Joe McCarthy look like a pinko”.
Miguel Cervantes…”Throw someone to the wolves libby general flynn you are guaranteed to get more wolves if you havent been paying attention for 20 years”
Suppose you’re a shareholder in a company which has been the subject of vicious and unfair attacks by journalists and competitors. Some error happens in one of the company’s factories, and while nothing ultimately happened, the nature of the error could have resulted in a major explosion.
If it turns out that an employee or executive at the plant made an inexcusable error, would you want that individual to be retained because firing him would encourage the unfair journalists and competitors?
We have seen every time they have ginned up a controversy conceding only generates a feeding frenzy libby and rove then a decade later general flynn manafort caputo and probably a half dozen others
This notion that theres a pony at the end of that pile has been proved erroneous
RE; Information warfare?
From what former government employees/witnesses are writing and saying, not only did the CIA study and use “remote viewers” for a decade or so–with some notable successes–but while the STARGATE remote viewing program was supposedly judged to be a failure by the CIA and supposedly shut down, witnesses are saying that, of course, the U.S. government, (and probably adversarial governments as well) still employ remote viewing, because it does work.
However, a good way to make people think that such remote viewing is just too wacky and can’t be real and, of course, can’t still be being used, is to release a formerly classified, official CIA research report, saying that a remote viewer had located the “Ark of the Covenant.”*
* See https://nypost.com/2025/03/26/world-news/cia-confirmed-ark-of-the-covenants-existence-using-remote-viewing-resurfaced-declassified-docs-claim/
@David Foster:the nature of the error could have resulted in a major explosion.
Suppose that was the original claim, but then after seeing more evidence it turned out to just be a railing at 33″ high instead of the regulation 36″. Worth fixing? Sure. Worth preventing? Definitely. Genuine safety hazard? Unlikely. Worth a major management shakeup? No. Makes you more likely to leap at firings at the first blaze of publicity regarding potential wrongdoing or negligence, when repeatedly made by enemies who deliberately and historically mislead whenever they can? I sure hope not.
As has been said, anything classified at birth–so to speak–remains classified until declassified. In some cases, it’s irrelevant to anything happening in this century but nobody’s gotten around to it…and still it’s classified.
But “classified” requires either a formal designation or being birthed in a classified setting. Much of the latter is not worth being classified…but is still classified until it isn’t.
What we hear in the current kerfuffle is likely in the second category.
So the two questions are whether the admin was led to believe by the former admin that Signal was suitable for classified comms, and whether, in any case, the discussion we hear would have been useful to an enemy.
Now, how Goldberg was on the distribution list is a HUGE question, separate from the above. That it almost certainly was illegitimate does not dismiss the issues in the preceding graf. And the uproar about the preceding does not dismiss the question of why the heck Goldberg was on the list.
As I may have said before, fifty-plus years ago, one of my part time jobs in my last duty station was custodian of classified documents. Had a walk-in closet built like a safe full of them. Nobody ever asked to see anything. So I never used what I was supposed to do in “clearing” the process. From which I deduced everybody already knew what was in there from going through their duties, or it was so old they knew they didn’t need to know it. Might have had chapter and verse on a weapons system nobody used anymore but going down the chain, crossing unit amalgamations, tracking which unit inherited which and so forth seemed like too much work to declassify that which nobody cared about.
Still, it was classified.
Another question is whether the info discussed could have been useful to an enemy. Depends on whether he got this stuff in real time. Being fifteen minutes late makes it….oops, what’s that sound?–too late.