As fallout from a Trump administration group chat about a military attack in Yemen continues to unfold, some Democrats are saying the inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in the chat goes beyond incompetence — they say it was criminal.
Legal experts on national security issues say Democrats may have a point, that a case could be made that the chat violated a provision of the Espionage Act. But they say it is highly unlikely such a prosecution would be initiated by the Trump administration against one of its own.
Speculation about culpability for the chat that included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, and whether any of the Trump administration officials involved in the chat should face any consequences continues to percolate on Capitol Hill. The chat between top administration national security officials took place on Signal, a private encrypted messaging app. Goldberg reported on March 24 that he had received a connection request through the app from National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, who then added him to the chat.
On March 26, after several administration officials insisted the information shared in the chat was not classified, the Atlantic published more of the messages. In one of them, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to provide a timeline for impending U.S. military strikes in Yemen on March 15.
Department of Defense regulations specifically prohibit use of the app to share “non-public DoD information.”
“Unmanaged ‘messaging apps,’ including any app with a chat feature, regardless of the primary function, are NOT authorized to access, transmit, process non-public DoD information. This includes but is not limited to messaging, gaming, and social media apps. (i.e., iMessage, WhatsApps, Signal),” according to a 2023 DoD memo. NPR reported that just days after the Signal chat on March 15, the Pentagon issued a warning that a “vulnerability has been identified in the Signal Messenger Application” and that “Russian professional hacking groups are employing the ‘linked devices’ features to spy on encrypted conversations.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the use of Signal for the chat was “a mistake,” and President Donald Trump said that Waltz — who took “full responsibility” for the inadvertent inclusion of Goldberg in the chat — “has learned a lesson.” But Democrats say that’s not enough. Some have called for a formal investigation. On March 25, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent Trump a letter calling on him to fire Hegseth “immediately.”