Signal chats released as Tulsi Gabbard answers questions
In a House hearing, intelligence leaders claimed no classified information was shared in a Signal chat, even after the full text was released.
WASHINGTON – Officials from the Trump administration assured a judge Thursday they are preserving messages shared on the Signal app about an attack on Houthis in Yemen, despite the app’s option to automatically delete those messages.
The nonprofit advocacy group American Oversight filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to preserve the messages among top national security officials from March 11 to 15 that were shared with a reporter because of the potential for their erasure.
But a Justice Department lawyer and officials from two departments told Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg they were already working to ensure the messages are preserved for the National Archives and Records Administration.
“We are also working with the agencies to preserve whatever records they have,” said Amber Richer, a Justice Department lawyer.
With the agreement of government officials, Boasberg ordered them to preserve the Signal chat record. He asked for an update about the preservation efforts Monday.
Signal chat revealed top officials discussing attack in ephemeral messages
The chat set off a political firestorm after Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he was inadvertently included on the chat. He later published the thread of messages that described the planes, flight times and targets hours before the pending attack.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz took responsibility for inadvertently including Goldberg. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were also on the chat.
The lawsuit named those officials as defendants, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the National Archives and Records Administration.
The lawsuit alleged that Waltz had the app set to delete some messages after one week and other messages after four weeks. But the lawsuit said the Federal Records Act requires officials such as Waltz, Hegseth and others to preserve their records for the National Archives.
“Using disappearing messaging apps to plan highly sensitive military operations isn’t just a transparency problem – it’s a national security crisis and potentially criminal,” Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director of the nonprofit American Oversight, said in a statement. “These officials chose platforms specifically designed to leave no paper trail for decisions that could cost lives and impact global stability.”
Departments preserving Signal records: DOJ
Richer submitted statements from the Treasury and Defense departments they officials were already working to preserve the records.
Christopher Pilkerton, acting general counsel at Treasury, submitted a statement saying he sent memos Wednesday to Bessent and his chief of staff “instructing them to take any steps necessary to preserve all existing communications” including on Signal.
Gerald Dziecichowicz, the associate deputy general counsel at Defense, said his office requested copies of the Signal messages at issue in the case from Hegseth’s staff.
DOGE tells staffers to save Signal message
Another American Oversight lawsuit, which seeks documents about cuts in government spending, revealed the Department of Government Efficiency sent a memo Tuesday directing staffers in bold, underlined type to “preserve all work-related communications and records, regardless of format.”
The memo said it applied to memos, letters, notes and drafts including in emails, chats and text messages.
“If you happen to receive work-related messages on your personal device − whether via text, Signal, a personal email address, or otherwise − make sure to capture and transmit those messages to your work device (such as screenshotting and forwarding,” the memo said.