Ex-Congressman Mike Waltz may have violated national security laws, The Atlantic alleges
Former Congressman Michael Waltz inadvertently invited a magazine editor to a private chat on which national security secrets – including plans to bomb the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen – were laid out in advance of the March 15 attacks, according to a new article in The Atlantic.
The article, written by Atlantic Editor Jeffrey Goldberg, raises questions about whether Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials might have violated laws such as the Espionage Act.
"I have never seen a breach quite like this," Goldberg wrote. "It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is primarily used for meeting planning and other logistical matters – not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action."
How 'strange' invite into national-security chat was made
Waltz – who represented the Daytona Beach area in the U.S. House from 2019 until earlier this year – invited Goldberg to join a chat group on the encrypted messaging service, Signal, on March 11, The Atlantic article states.
Goldberg found the request "strange," and had his doubts about whether the invite actually came from Waltz, but accepted "hoping that this was the national security advisor, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter."
Then on March 13, Goldberg was added to a Signal chat group called the "Houthi PC small group," with a message from Waltz establishing a principals group for coordination on the Houthis following a Situation Room meeting. Goldberg described members of the group including "MAR," presumably Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and others, including Hegseth.
Group debates pros, cons of attacking Houthis
Goldberg – who won the ire of President Donald Trump and his supporters in 2020 when he reported Trump had called American war dead "suckers" and "losers" – continued to express skepticism that the group was real, acknowledging the possibility that it could be a disinformation effort aimed at disgracing him.
But the night before the strikes on the Houthis, a political and militant group that the Trump administration has deemed a terrorist organization, officials on the chat weighed the pluses and minuses of carrying out an attack. Backed by Iran, the Houthis have attacked vessels, including American ships, in the Red Sea.
Vance said he thought it might be a mistake, as many more of the ships using the Suez Canal to get from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea are European, and that the public might not understand the need for a U.S. attack.
"I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now," Vance wrote, adding that an attack could result in a "moderate to severe spike in oil prices," but that he was willing to keep his concerns to himself and support the consensus of the team.
Hegseth responded, acknowledging Vance's "important considerations," but said he believed the attack should be launched to restore freedom of navigation and reestablishing deterrence, with messaging to the public focused on "1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded."
Another account, "S M," who Goldberg assumed was homeland security advisor Stephen Miller, said it was important to "make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return," for carrying out the attacks: further economic gain.
The following morning, Saturday, March 15, Hegseth posted on the chat "operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying and attack sequencing," Greenberg reported.
About two hours later, the bombs started falling.
NSC: Signal chat 'appears to be authentic'
Trump declared the U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen a success, with a Houthi spokesman claiming bombs left at least 53 people dead, USA Today reported.
Following Goldberg's article, Trump told reporters on Monday: "I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it's a magazine that's going out of business."
In a statement provided to The News-Journal, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes acknowledged the Signal message thread "appears to be authentic."
"We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," Hughes said. "The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security.”
Goldberg concludes his piece by noting Trump's call for the imprisonment of 2016 presidential opponent Hillary Clinton after her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, as well as Trump's indictment – and the subsequent dropping of charges related to mishandling classified documents. He then wrote of his inclusion in the Signal chat group: "That is the classic definition of a leak, even if it was unintentional."