Democrats clutching their pearls over a sensitive government group text are demanding the resignation of Trump administration officials over what they’re calling a security breach.
This comes despite President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard emphasizing that no “war plans” or classified information was shared in the Signal group chat that included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz who accidentally added a journalist to the list.
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg published a story Monday, claiming he was added to the group messages that included administration officials and prompting calls for Walz and Hegseth to resign or be fired and an investigation into whether Russians were able to access the texts.
“Obviously, my colleagues and I feel very strongly about the war planning meeting over unclassified phones,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard confirms that no classified material was shared in the Signal chat pic.twitter.com/A7ad02JL2l
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 25, 2025
“Obviously reckless, obviously dangerous, both the mishandling of classified information and the deliberate destruction of federal records or potential crimes that ought to be investigated immediately,” the Democrat added. “And I want to make clear that I’m of the view that there ought to be resignation starting with the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of Defense.”
Wyden questioned DNI Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday, as did Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va..
“Director Gabbard, did you participate in the group chat with Secretary of Defense and other Trump senior officials discussing the Yemen war plans?” Warnetr asked during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
“I don’t want to get into the specifics,” Gabbard replied, adding that it is “currently under review by the National Security Council.”
“There was no classified material that was shared in that,” Gabbard said.
“So then if there [was] no classified material, share it with the committee,” Warner, the committee vice chair, said. “You can’t have it both ways. These are important jobs. This is our national security. Bobbing and weaving and trying to, you know, filibuster your answer. So please answer the question. Director Gabbard, if this was a rank-and-file intelligence officer who did this kind of careless behavior, what would you do with them?”
“Senator, I’ll reiterate that there was no classified material that was shared in that,” replied Gabbard, who was joined by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel before the committee.
.@CIADirector: “I haven’t participated in any Signal group messaging that relates to any classified information at all.”@DNIGabbard: “I have not participated in any Signal group chat or any other chat on another app that contained any classified information.” pic.twitter.com/kJkvyqnz9E
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 25, 2025
“To be clear, the use of Signal message, and end to end encryption applications is permissible and was in this case, used permissibly, at least to my understanding, and in [a] lawful manner,” Ratcliffe told Wyden.
In an early post on X Tuesday morning, the White House press secretary noted that The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg “is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
She then noted “the facts about his latest story.”
Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin. Here are the facts about his latest story:
1. No “war plans” were discussed.
2. No classified material was sent to the thread.
3. The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 25, 2025
“As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread,” Leavitt added.
