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The reporter at the center of Signalgate has alluded that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz knowingly had his contact information, despite Waltz’s claims that he has never spoken to him.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, Signalgate refers to a growing national security scandal involving a Signal group chat where senior officials in Donald Trump’s administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, discussed the details of an impending military strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The chat included details such as the timing, general locations, and types of weaponry of the operation—information widely considered sensitive or potentially classified. The controversy erupted after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group and subsequently reported on its contents. The publication of screenshots and details from the chat raised alarms across US lawmakers, with critics pointing out that the use of an unclassified, encrypted messaging app for high-level military communications posed a serious national security risk. While some officials downplayed the incident as a minor glitch, others, including Democratic lawmakers and former intelligence personnel, labeled it reckless and unprecedented, warning that such lapses could endanger lives and expose US operations to adversaries.
What’s going on now: While speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg rejected National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s explanation for how he ended up in a Signal group chat that included top Trump administration officials discussing upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Waltz had previously claimed Goldberg’s number may have been “sucked in” via “somebody else’s contact,” a theory Goldberg mocked outright. “This isn’t the Matrix,” he said. “Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones. I don’t know what he’s talking about there.” Goldberg went on to say, “Very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation. My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone.”
Goldberg also pushed back on Waltz’s repeated assertions that they had never met or communicated: “He’s telling everyone that he’s never met me or spoken to me – that’s simply not true.” Waltz, for his part, maintains that the inclusion of Goldberg was accidental, telling Fox News, “I built the group… I can tell you for 100%, I don’t know this guy.” He further claimed Goldberg’s number may have been listed under another contact intended for the chat.
The fallout has triggered bipartisan concern. Republican Senators James Lankford of Oklahoma and Roger Wicker of Mississippi have called for an investigation. Lankford told CNN, “It’s entirely appropriate for the inspector general to be able to look at it… how did a reporter get into this thread?” Wicker penned a formal letter urging the Department of Defense’s inspector general to examine “the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information.”
On the Democratic side, Senator Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed outrage over the breach, stating on ABC’s This Week, “If you had been a traditional military officer or a CIA caseworker and you were this sloppy and careless with this classified information, you would be fired. No doubt about it.” Warner went further, calling for accountability: “I believe Secretary Hegseth should resign or be fired. I think Mike Waltz should resign or be fired. If no action is taken, what message does that send to the workforce?”
