House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats are asking the inspectors general at national security agencies whose leaders discussed a pending airstrike in a Signal chat to investigate the matter, including what laws were violated in the process. “This incident raises grav e concerns about a potential pattern of misuse of unsecured communication platforms for sensitive discussions and the possibility that American military and intelligence professionals may have been compromised by the reckless dissemination of such highly sensitive national security information,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.), the top Democrat on the panel, wrote in a letter. “It is critical that your offices investigate this matter and any other incidents in which senior national security leaders in the Trump Administration have, either through incompetence or neglect, compromised highly sensitive or classified national security information.” The letter was sent to the inspectors general of the Department of Defense, the State Department, the CIA and the Treasury Department as well as White House counsel David Warrington. Eighteen national security leaders were on a Signal group chat initiated by national security adviser Mike Waltz, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing timelines and targets of planned airstrikes against Houthi rebels. The letter notes that the discussion inadvertently shared sensitive information with Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg — a likely violation of the Espionage Act — while the use of Signal and its deleting messages feature would likely violate public records laws that require preservation of such discussions. While the Trump administration has claimed the chat did not include any classified information, the Espionage Act can be used to prosecute the sharing of national defense information, whether intentional or inadvertent. “The use of Signal to communicate this information jeopardized the lives of men and women of the military and embarrassingly advertised to our adversaries the careless attitude of our nation’s senior leaders,” the letter stated, noting the repeated use of emojis to respond to information relayed in the chat. The request asks the inspectors general to undertake a sweeping investigation of the matter, from whether the participants used their personal phones for the discussion — devices that would be less secure than government-issued phones — to whether participants have previously used Signal to discuss sensitive information. It also asks whether any of the devices used in the Signal chat “were compromised by foreign, malign, or unintended actors.” “Several national security experts have articulated the likelihood that these messages were monitored or intercepted by foreign governments,” Connolly wrote. He pointed to an interview with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) who said, “I will guarantee you, 99.99 percent with confidence, Russia and China are monitoring those two phones. So I just think it’s a security violation, and there’s no doubt that Russia and China saw this stuff within hours of the actual attacks on Yemen or the Houthis.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during an appearance before Congress Wednesday that including a journalist on the group chat was a mistake, but she did not directly address the wisdom of using an encrypted app, saying only that employees should “apply best practices.” “It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with high-level national security principles, having a policy discussion about imminent strikes against the Houthis and the effects of the strike,” she told House lawmakers. “Ideally, these conversations occur in person. However, at times fast-moving and coordination of an unclassified nature is necessary where in-person conversation is not an option,” she said. ...read more read less