From a friend
“Now, Mr. Trump’s attitudes and actions are coming under renewed scrutiny as the national security adviser, defense secretary and multiple cabinet members face questions about their use of Signal, a commercial messaging app, to discuss details of impending military strikes many experts say were classified.
The conversation was described in an article Monday by The Atlantic’s editor in chief, who was mistakenly added to the group chat.
By Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump conceded that he “didn’t know” if the information disclosed was classified or not. Still, he seemed far more concerned about how the editor had been added to the chat than about whether Americans had been put at risk.
And that, former officials say, goes to a disrespect of government, its rules and safeguards, that has trickled down from the president to his key aides. The former officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation from the White House or its allies
The line from Trump administration officials, including the director of national intelligence, was that nothing classified was shared.
The response was met with incredulity among Democrats, who noted that the chat included the times pilots would take off to conduct airstrikes, details that are usually closely guarded secrets.
“The casualness with which he dealt with information has clearly become the culture of this new team,” said Sue Gordon, who was a top intelligence official in the first Trump administration. “I think it bespeaks a breathtaking lack of understanding of the reality of the risks posed by very capable adversaries and competitors who would advance their interests at the expense of ours.”
Military experts say Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, appears to have retyped information from classified documents or a classified message from U.S. Central Command and placed it into the Signal group for the senior officials.”
From a friend
“Now, Mr. Trump’s attitudes and actions are coming under renewed scrutiny as the national security adviser, defense secretary and multiple cabinet members face questions about their use of Signal, a commercial messaging app, to discuss details of impending military strikes many experts say were classified.
The conversation was described in an article Monday by The Atlantic’s editor in chief, who was mistakenly added to the group chat.
By Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump conceded that he “didn’t know” if the information disclosed was classified or not. Still, he seemed far more concerned about how the editor had been added to the chat than about whether Americans had been put at risk.
And that, former officials say, goes to a disrespect of government, its rules and safeguards, that has trickled down from the president to his key aides. The former officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation from the White House or its allies
The line from Trump administration officials, including the director of national intelligence, was that nothing classified was shared.
The response was met with incredulity among Democrats, who noted that the chat included the times pilots would take off to conduct airstrikes, details that are usually closely guarded secrets.
“The casualness with which he dealt with information has clearly become the culture of this new team,” said Sue Gordon, who was a top intelligence official in the first Trump administration. “I think it bespeaks a breathtaking lack of understanding of the reality of the risks posed by very capable adversaries and competitors who would advance their interests at the expense of ours.”
Military experts say Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, appears to have retyped information from classified documents or a classified message from U.S. Central Command and placed it into the Signal group for the senior officials.”