Signal Chat Scandal - Trump officials face legal action
Photo: Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the US Department of Defense (Getty Images)
Five high-ranking officials of US President Donald Trump’s administration face a federal lawsuit over the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a Signal chat where officials discussed military plans, ABC News reports.
The non-governmental organization American Oversight filed a federal lawsuit on March 25 against five top officials of the Trump administration, claiming that the use of Signal violates federal law governing the preservation of government documents.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants named are:
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Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense;
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Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence;
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John Ratcliffe, CIA Director;
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Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury;
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Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State.
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The National Archives and Records Administration.
A federal judge is being asked to declare the use of Signal illegal and to require Cabinet members to preserve the messages.
Scandalous Signal chat meeting
On March 11, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a closed chat in the Signal messenger, where high-ranking officials were discussing strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The incident caused serious criticism from politicians.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz denied discussing military plans in the chat and called the journalist "a liar and highly discredited."
Commenting on the incident, Trump stated that Waltz "learned his lesson, and he's a good man."
