Waltz accidentally adds journalist to Signal chat due to iPhone glitch - The Guardian
Photo: US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (Getty Images)
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added a journalist to a closed Signal chat due to confusion. An investigation revealed that several months ago, he mistakenly saved the journalist's number under the name of another person he intended to add, reports The Guardian.
According to The Guardian, this mistake was one of several identified during an internal White House investigation. It revealed a chain of oversights that began during the 2024 election campaign and remained unnoticed until the creation of the chat last month.
A review by the White House IT department revealed that Waltz saved The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg's number after Goldberg sent an email to Donald Trump's campaign last October.
Contact confusion
According to three informed sources, Goldberg reached out to the campaign with an article criticizing Trump for his treatment of wounded service members. To rebut the material, the campaign contacted Waltz.
Goldberg's email was forwarded to Brian Hughes, who was the Trump campaign spokesperson at the time. Hughes copied the email’s content, including Goldberg’s phone number from the signature, and pasted it into a text message he sent to Waltz. He, however, never called Goldberg. Instead, he accidentally saved Goldberg's number under Hughes' name on his iPhone. Hughes now serves as the spokesperson for the US National Security Council.
iPhone feature
White House officials explained that the number was saved by mistake due to the "contact suggestion update" feature on Waltz's iPhone. One source told the publication that this feature allows the iPhone to automatically add an unknown number to an existing contact if the algorithm thinks they are connected.
The mistake was not noticed until March of this year when Waltz tried to add Hughes to a Signal group chat but instead added Goldberg's number.
Signal scandal
As a reminder, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz recently accidentally added The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a high-level officials' chat. In the chat, they were discussing US plans to strike the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth revealed details about the operation in the chat just half an hour before its commencement, including information about the fighter jets' departure time and more.
The Atlantic reported that this information was classified, and its release could have harmed the pilots. However, Hegseth denied these claims. According to him, he did not disclose any names, targets, or locations.
For more details on the scandal, read RBC-Ukraine's report.
