Tag Archives: Marco Rubio

New York Times: I Don’t Know How Pete Hegseth Can Look Service Members In the Eyes

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I don’t know how Pete Hegseth can look at service members in the eyes. He’s just blown his credibility as a military leader.

On Monday, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg published one of the most extraordinary stories I’ve ever read. Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, apparently inadvertently invited Goldberg to join a Signal group chat (Signal is an encrypted messaging app) that seemed to include several senior Trump officials, including Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth.

A National Security Council spokesman told The Atlantic that the chat “appears to be authentic.”

No one apparently noticed Goldberg’s presence, and he had a front-row seat as they debated Trump’s decision to attack the Houthi rebels, an Iran-backed militia that had been firing on civilian shipping in the Red Sea.

Then, at 11:44 a.m. on March 15, the account labeled “Pete Hegseth” sent a message that contained “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying and attack sequencing.”

This would be a stunning breach of security. I’m a former Army JAG officer (an Army lawyer). I’ve helped investigate numerous alleged spillages of classified information, and I’ve never even heard of anything this egregious — a secretary of defense intentionally using a civilian messaging app to share sensitive war plans, without even apparently noticing a journalist was in the chat.

Opinion | I Don’t Know How Pete Hegseth Can Look Service Members In the Eyes – The New York Times

Associated Press: Trump officials texted war plans to a group chat in a secure app that included a journalist

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Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”

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Goldberg said he received the Signal invitation from Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who was also in the group chat.

As expected, Hegseth resorts to character assassination rather than explaining the lapse in security:

Hegseth in his first comments on the matter attacked Goldberg as “deceitful” and a “discredited so-called journalist” while alluding to previous critical reporting of Trump from the publication. He did not shed light on why Signal was being used to discuss the sensitive operation or how Goldberg ended up on the message chain.

Trump officials texted war plans to a group chat in a secure app that included a journalist
President Donald Trump is downplaying the texting of war plans to a group chat that included a journalist as “the only glitch in two months” of his administration.

Trump officials text Yemen war plans to Signal group chat with journalist | AP News

The Hill: House Republican on war plans chat: ‘There’s no doubt that Russia and China saw this stuff’

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Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said there’s “no doubt” that Russia and China were monitoring the U.S. officials’ devices used for a war plan text chat.

“I will guarantee you, 99.99 percent with confidence, Russia and China are monitoring those two phones,” Bacon told CNN’s Manu Raju. “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.”

National security adviser Mike Waltz reportedly invited The Atlantic’s top editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, into the Signal group, in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared secret war plans.

Bacon, a former Air Force brigadier general and a member of the House Armed Services committee, said he always was concerned about Hegseth, an Army veteran who was a longtime Fox News host.

Bacon called the group chat, which also included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance, among others, a “gross error.”

“They intentionally put highly classified information on an unclassified device,” he told CNN. “I would have lost my security clearance in the Air Force for this and for a lot less.”

House Republican on war plans chat: ‘There’s no doubt that Russia and China saw this stuff’
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said there’s “no doubt” that Russia and China were monitoring the U.S. officials’ devices used for a war plan text chat. “I will guarantee you, 99.99 percent with conf…

Don Bacon says Russia, China likely saw war plans group chat

The Telegraph: Kremlin targeting app at heart of White House group chat leaks

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Cyber attackers linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency had sought to gain access to Signal accounts

Russian military hackers have targeted the messaging app at the centre of the White House group chat fiasco, raising further fears about the security of US secret communications.

Researchers at Google found cyber attackers linked to the Kremlin’s military intelligence agency had sought to gain access to Signal accounts in Ukraine and were likely to use the techniques on other targets to snoop on conversations.

On Monday it emerged that members of Donald Trump’s cabinet including JD Vance, the vice president, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, had used Signal to discuss secret US military plans.

It emerged after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat in which they discussed plans to bomb Yemen and disclosed classified material.

Kremlin targeting app at heart of White House group chat leaks
Cyber attackers linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency had sought to gain access to Signal accounts

Kremlin targeting Signal app at heart of White House group chat leaks

Associated Press: US prepares to deport about 300 alleged gang members to El Salvador

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Due process? Why bother? El Salvador’s government knows how to lock people up without fair trials. Just leave it to them!

President Donald Trump’s administration will pay El Salvador $6 million to imprison for one year about 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, in one of the first instances of the Central American country taking migrants from the United States.

The agreement follows discussions between El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about housing migrants in El Salvador’s notorious prison. Bukele’s government has arrested more than 84,000 people, sometimes without due process, since 2022 as part of his crackdown on gang violence in the small country.

US prepares to deport about 300 alleged gang members to El Salvador
El Salvador is agreeing to accept from the United States about 300 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang for one year.

US prepares to send about 300 alleged gang members to El Salvador | AP News