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U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

theatlantic.com

331–340 of 1001 posts

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#331
post #77

If anything, I'm a bit surprised that Jeff Goldberg burned this source. If anything, I'd suspect that he'd keep the channel open as long as he could. Or, he's got other channels that work better. All the same, I mean, wow. These guys are just morons here, there's really no other way around it. I'm trying to think of a charitable way to spin this and I've got nothing. Like, very clearly, these people are going to get…

I'm betting that Goldberg realized, once it was confirmed real, that his only feasible defense was exiting the chat and going public immediately. Otherwise, someone notices he's there, and he's arrested by ICE and disappeared to El Salvador, or worse.

In many ways, being a public enemy of the Trump Admin is the safest enemy to be.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#332
post #77

If anything, I'm a bit surprised that Jeff Goldberg burned this source. If anything, I'd suspect that he'd keep the channel open as long as he could. Or, he's got other channels that work better. All the same, I mean, wow. These guys are just morons here, there's really no other way around it. I'm trying to think of a charitable way to spin this and I've got nothing. Like, very clearly, these people are going to get…

The Atlantic is not a typical publication. It is run by serious people.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#333

Even worse, Trump wasn't aware of this leak (or denies knowledge of it) until questioned at a press conference earlier today. And instead of promising an investigation, the best he can do is throw some weak insults at The Atlantic. BUTTERY MALES indeed.

By the revealed content of the chat, Trump wasn't aware of the decision his subordinates made. They just intuited Trump's wishes and dropped bombs based on that.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#334
post #166

In 2023, Hegseth had his own critique of the Biden administration handling classified documents “flippantly”, remarking on Fox News that “If at the very top there’s no accountability”, then we have “two tiers of justice”. https://x.com/MattGertz/status/1904228588414464167 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/journalist-t...

[deleted]

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#335

In the banking world, employees have been fined significant sums, or even forced from their jobs [0], for unauthorized use of messaging platforms. And here, it's barely a shrug. Unbelievable. [0] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/morgan-stanley-hit-...

it's not unauthorized use of signal; "Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, such as scheduling sensitive meetings, but in the Biden administration, people who had permission to download it on their White House-issued phones were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the administration." https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation…

Buttery Males!

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#336

In the banking world, employees have been fined significant sums, or even forced from their jobs [0], for unauthorized use of messaging platforms. And here, it's barely a shrug. Unbelievable. [0] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/morgan-stanley-hit-...

Who's going to arrest them?

This is why you have a constitution, codified laws, judicial system, separation of powers, etc. We're just learning now none of these things are worth the paper they're written on.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"But her e-mails." > It’s best to understand that fascists see hypocrisy as a virtue. It’s how they signal that the things they are doing to people were never meant to be equally applied. > It’s not an inconsistency. It’s very consistent to the only true fascist value, which is domination. > It’s very important to understand, fascists don’t just see hypocrisy as a necessary evil or an unintended side-effect. > It’s t…

Using the insult "Fascist" in every other sentence really diminishes whatever message was in there

It's not an insult any more than "rapist" or "fraudster" is. These have all factual definitions, and Trump meets all of them.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#338

This is bad news for entire genres of books, TV shows and movies that are based on the supreme competence, sophistication and wealth of the Pentagon, NSA and CIA. Turns out US military strategy is the same as me and my mates setting up a bar date. It's a disturbing leak in itself but i take issue with the journalist obsessing over the tool of choice whilst ignoring the actual strategizing. The casual way in which a m…

> Turns out US military strategy is the same as me and my mates setting up a bar date.

Typically these positions are filled by highly qualified people with decades of experience.

This administration is not typical. They deliberately chose inexperienced people who would be loyal above all else.

Selecting for incompetence was part of the plan, and it’s been obvious from the start.

Hegseth was a Fox News host, not someone qualified for this position.

This story is stranger than fiction.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's going to arrest them?

This is why you have a constitution, codified laws, judicial system, separation of powers, etc. We're just learning now none of these things are worth the paper they're written on.

It's just as useful and effective as the international law and order that was setup after WW2.

So nada.

Re: U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat

#340

[flagged]

No, this isn't just about Hegseth. Any of the people on the chat could and should have said...

* Signal isn't an approved communications method for national security information at all.

* Who is this extra person on this chat? (and Hegseth wasn't even the one who added him apparently.)

* Having the only record [1] of this be auto deleting definitively violates the Federal Records Act (even if signal were an approved platform).

This is about group malfeasance and normalization of deviance.

[1] I don't know that part for certain, but I do suspect it...

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