Trump cabinet sued over Signal leak of war plans as Mike Waltz takes full responsibility

Five members of Trump’s cabinet are being sued in Washington federal court after using Signal to coordinate official government business, including airstrikes in Yemen, without preserving any records.

The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday by American Oversight, and it comes right after The Atlantic revealed that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to the Signal group chat where these high-level conversations took place.

According to The Atlantic’s report, the chat included top Trump administration officials and close White House aides. The group was created by Mike Waltz, who currently serves as national security adviser.

The chat reportedly covered plans for U.S. military strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen, and Goldberg had access to it without any of the participants noticing he wasn’t supposed to be there.

Cabinet officials discussed Yemen airstrikes in auto-deleting Signal group

American Oversight argues that the five officials used Signal in a way that directly violates the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act, since the app can automatically delete messages and leaves no paper trail.

The group is demanding a court order declaring the records law was broken. They also want the court to force these officials to follow recordkeeping laws going forward, which could include a referral to the U.S. attorney general to try to recover anything deleted.

The five cabinet members named in the complaint are Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The National Archives and Records Administration was also included in the lawsuit for failing to act.

In a statement, Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director at American Oversight, said:

“Our lawsuit seeks to ensure these federal records are preserved and recovered. The American people deserve answers and we won’t stop until we get them.”

The lawsuit dropped just hours after Mike Waltz went on Fox News and admitted that he created the Signal group where the classified information was shared with Goldberg. When host Laura Ingraham asked if a staffer accidentally added the journalist, Waltz said, “I take full responsibility. I built the — I built the group. My job is to make sure everything’s coordinated.”

Waltz also suggested Goldberg might have added himself to the group on purpose. “Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical means is something we’re trying to figure out,” he said. Waltz added that he spoke with Elon Musk earlier that day, and “we’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.”

Trump responds to Signal chat breach while Jeffries demands Hegseth be fired

The Atlantic didn’t stay quiet. They released a public statement pushing back on the attacks from the Trump administration. Anna Bross, the outlet’s spokesperson, said:

“Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans. Our journalists are continuing to fearlessly and independently report the truth in the public interest.”

Democratic leaders reacted immediately. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to Trump demanding that Pete Hegseth be removed as Defense Secretary. Jeffries wrote, “Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history. His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger.”

He also called the Signal chat a national security risk. Referring to the Yemen airstrikes, Jeffries said Hegseth “recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans,” adding:

“His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.” Jeffries also urged House Republicans to support a “swift, serious and substantive investigation into this unacceptable and irresponsible national security breach.”

Hegseth didn’t accept the blame. Speaking to reporters, he denied any wrongdoing and said, “Nobody was texting war plans.”

Meanwhile, Trump downplayed the whole thing. During a press briefing at the White House, he said the Signal chat didn’t include any sensitive material.

“No classified information, as I understand it,” he said. He described Signal as an app “a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use.”

Trump made it clear he didn’t think Waltz did anything wrong either.

“I don’t want Mike to be hurt,” he said. He also said his aides would “probably” stop using Signal going forward. “If it was up to me, everybody would be sitting in a room together,” Trump added. “The room would have solid lead walls and a lead ceiling and a lead floor. But you know, life doesn’t always let you do that.”

Trump confirmed the administration is still trying to understand how Goldberg ended up in the group. “We have our technical experts looking at it,” he said. “We have our legal teams looking at it. And of course, we’re going to keep everything as secure as possible.”

The chat leak, the lawsuit, and the fallout now leave five top officials and the White House in legal trouble. If a court finds that these officials did break the law, they could face penalties or even investigation by the Justice Department. For now, none of the five officials named in the complaint have been removed from their positions, and Trump has made no announcement about any internal disciplinary actions.

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