Sarah K. Burris
March 26, 2025
RAW STORY
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 25, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet have been swept up in what has been dubbed "Signalgate" — and possible additional concerns came to light Wednesday.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 25, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet have been swept up in what has been dubbed "Signalgate" — and possible additional concerns came to light Wednesday.
On Monday, a bombshell report in The Atlantic alleged that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared secret war plans in a Signal chat that included a reporter among its membership.
Top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet discussed in a Signal chat classified military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe, Trump's director of national intelligence and CIA director, disputed that the information was classified during a hearing this week but maintained they couldn't discuss what was in the chat.
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German news outlet Der Spiegel reported Wednesday that not only were Trump's officials communicating via Signal, their cell phone numbers can be found online.
Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Gabbard all had their private data, passwords and cell phone numbers leaked and can be found online, the publication said.
"Most of the publicly accessible numbers and email addresses are likely still being used by those affected," the report said. "Some are linked to profiles on Instagram and LinkedIn, among others. Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track traffic data were created with them. WhatsApp profiles, and in some cases even Signal accounts, can be found for the respective phone numbers. The research therefore reveals another serious security vulnerability in Washington that was previously unknown."
The report also said that as recently as Wednesday, privately used and publicly searchable phone numbers of Gabbard and Waltz were still available online. Those numbers are linked to the Signal accounts used in "Signalgate."
Hostile intelligence agencies could use the information to hack communications sent through those devices by using spyware, The report warned.
"It is therefore conceivable that foreign agents were reading along as Gabbard, Waltz, and Hegseth discussed a military strike with others in a Signal chat," the report said through a translation.
Read the full report here.
Someone else was in on the controversial Signal chat who shouldn't have been there: report
Travis Gettys
March 27, 2025
Travis Gettys
March 27, 2025
RAW STORY
Joe Kent, Republican congressional candidate in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, speaks at the “Justice for J6” rally near the United States Capitol. (Photo credit: Ben Von Klemperer / Shutterstock)
The group chat where Donald Trump's national security team planned military operations over the encrypted Signal app included another participant who should not have been invited.
National security adviser Mike Waltz added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, apparently by mistake, but the Willamette Week reported that Joe Kent, the president's nominee to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was also part of the group despite his awaiting Senate confirmation.
“The recklessness and incompetence of how Trump’s so-called ‘best and brightest’ handled national security information is bad enough when they’re channeling the offhanded attitude of tweeners texting about their plans for spring break,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). “But the fact they included Joe Kent in this buffoonish behavior only magnifies their dangerous sloppiness and total disregard for intelligence since he hasn’t even been confirmed by the Senate.”
Kent – a former Green Beret, failed two-time GOP congressional candidate and 2020 election denier with ties to white nationalists – has been the acting chief of staff to national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, according to three sources, but his role has not been publicly announced.
Goldberg, the editor in chief for The Atlantic, revealed earlier this week that he was surprised to be invited March 15 into the Signal chat by Waltz, whom he says he barely knows, and the magazine published the contents of the chats after the Trump administration insisted that information was not classified, and those show that Kent took part in the discussion.
“There is nothing time sensitive driving the timeline," Kent stated. "We’ll have the exact same options in a month.”
He added the Israelis would “take strikes” and “therefore ask us for more support to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis.”
Democrats have called on participants in the group, which was led by defense secretary Pete Hegseth and included vice president J.D. Vance, to resign because they used a commercially available third-party app to discuss top-secret military operations, and a government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging the chat violated the Federal Records Act because the app automatically deletes messages.
Joe Kent, Republican congressional candidate in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, speaks at the “Justice for J6” rally near the United States Capitol. (Photo credit: Ben Von Klemperer / Shutterstock)
The group chat where Donald Trump's national security team planned military operations over the encrypted Signal app included another participant who should not have been invited.
National security adviser Mike Waltz added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, apparently by mistake, but the Willamette Week reported that Joe Kent, the president's nominee to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was also part of the group despite his awaiting Senate confirmation.
“The recklessness and incompetence of how Trump’s so-called ‘best and brightest’ handled national security information is bad enough when they’re channeling the offhanded attitude of tweeners texting about their plans for spring break,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). “But the fact they included Joe Kent in this buffoonish behavior only magnifies their dangerous sloppiness and total disregard for intelligence since he hasn’t even been confirmed by the Senate.”
Kent – a former Green Beret, failed two-time GOP congressional candidate and 2020 election denier with ties to white nationalists – has been the acting chief of staff to national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, according to three sources, but his role has not been publicly announced.
Goldberg, the editor in chief for The Atlantic, revealed earlier this week that he was surprised to be invited March 15 into the Signal chat by Waltz, whom he says he barely knows, and the magazine published the contents of the chats after the Trump administration insisted that information was not classified, and those show that Kent took part in the discussion.
“There is nothing time sensitive driving the timeline," Kent stated. "We’ll have the exact same options in a month.”
He added the Israelis would “take strikes” and “therefore ask us for more support to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis.”
Democrats have called on participants in the group, which was led by defense secretary Pete Hegseth and included vice president J.D. Vance, to resign because they used a commercially available third-party app to discuss top-secret military operations, and a government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging the chat violated the Federal Records Act because the app automatically deletes messages.
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