Of course Trump's Cabinet lied about that Signal chat. It's the Republican way. | Opinion
I almost respect the level of commitment Republicans have to telling bold-face lies. But this Signal debacle is a new achievement for them.
Well, well, well. Look at what we have here. To the surprise of nobody who pays attention, it turns out that the entirety of the Trump administration lied about what was in that viral Signal chat.
They lied to the public. They lied to Congress. They probably spent the day lying to each other.
What was the lie? They said there was no classified information in the chat about military movement in Yemen. They wanted us to believe that it was all business as usual. They even suggested that the whole thing is a hoax.
Guess what happened next? Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was accidentally included and his outlet, The Atlantic, published a transcript of the chat that Trump's intelligence cabal spent the whole day saying wasn't a big deal.
Pete Hegseth and US intelligence leadership look stupid today
What The Atlantic posted is not a good look for the whole of our government. Here are some things Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth apparently sent the group:
- “1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
- “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
- “1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
- “MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
- “We are currently clean on OPSEC” ‒ that is, operational security.
- “Godspeed to our Warriors.”
These are the texts that national intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard repeatedly told members of Congress are not classified. And that's just a sampling.
Granted, I'm no expert. But if the secretary of Defense is texting a timeline of attacks being carried out by American troops and sees fit to include "Godspeed to our Warriors," maybe let's keep those details off public texting apps until those warriors are safe.
That all feels super classified.
Hegseth and his friends didn't even need to lie
You see, it's not really surprising that the Trump administration lied. That's what they do. They lie about elections. They lie about the economy. They lie about crime. They lie.
But this is staggering, bordering on impressive. Hegseth and his band of merry liars were in a chat group with a journalist, sharing information attached to their names. We all know that, right? We know how chats work. People can usually see who is texting, right?
Then it all comes out, and the first reaction of the people whom Republicans gleefully put in charge of our national security was to lie. Several times. All day.
You know the funny thing? They could have sat before Congress and the nation Tuesday and openly said all sorts of classified stuff, and nothing would have happened. They could have done a dramatic performance of that Signal chat, complete with music and props to help the ambiance, and nothing would have happened.
Who is going to hand out any sense of punishment? Not Republicans. Not Trump. Maybe Musk's DOGE can dock their pay?
But Republicans spent much of Tuesday shrugging about it. National security adviser Mike Waltz said it was his fault The Atlantic editor got added to the chat. That's a good start. But nothing will come of it.
Will Republicans find a new sense of right and wrong and do something, anything, about it now? Probably not, but we'll see.
It's been clear for weeks that Republicans want a government where the president wields executive orders at his whim, where Musk dismantles American institutions, and where the judicial system is openly attacked by our elected leaders.
But now it seems Republicans also want to be dismissive about what seems like an apparent security breach and then a half-cooked attempt to lie about it.
Republicans want a government where our entire national security community seemingly lies to the face of members of Congress and nothing happens. It has to be a good time to be Republican. Lying is their superpower, after all.
Louie Villalobos is the director of opinion for Gannett. You'll find him chatting with former co-workers on Signal. But that's all classified, tbh.