VoteVets Memorandum on Trump Administration Sending War Plans via Signal

Press Releases

Memorandum

FROM: Caroline Zier, Senior Policy Advisor, VoteVets and former Deputy
Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense
TO: All Interested Parties
DA: 24 March 2025
RE: Trump Administration Sending War Plans via Signal

On March 11, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently included in a Signal text chain in which the National Security Advisor, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and other Cabinet officials appear to discuss the plan to begin striking the Houthis. Goldberg’s extraordinary and jaw-dropping reporting on this chat – called the “Houthi PC small group” – is worth reading in full.

Here are the key takeaways from our point of view:

  • This is the opposite of “100% OPSEC” (as Secretary Hegseth claimed in one message to the group). This kind of behavior puts U.S. forces at greater risk due to the potential for leaks before or during dangerous operations.
  • Members of the Cabinet have a responsibility to protect classified information, preserve records, and communicate on government devices. They chose not to fulfill any of these core responsibilities.
  • It leads one to ask the obvious question: what other sensitive, classified discussions are being held via Signal?

This is not a trivial matter:

  • Their decision to communicate on an unclassified messaging app puts U.S. forces at greater risk: Operational details – such as the sequencing of an operation and the weaponeering – are kept classified before and during an operation to prevent leaks that could allow the adversary to prepare and retaliate against U.S. forces.
    • In short, this practice of keeping operations classified is designed to give U.S. forces – our warfighters – the advantage and protection that comes from surprise on the battlefield.
    • Once an operation is complete and U.S. forces are deemed safe, only then will the Department of Defense announce and confirm that an operation has occurred.
  • The Trump Cabinet disregarded the responsibility to protect classified information, preserve official records, and communicate on government devices. Based on Goldberg’s screen shots of the chat and description of the back-and-forth on Signal, it’s clear the members of President Trump’s Cabinet are entirely disregarding their responsibility to protect classified information, safeguard records, and communicate about classified matters on secure, classified networks.
    • These Cabinet officials are declassification authorities, which means they may claim that their discussions thereby declassify the information. But they clearly did not mean to declassify the information.
    • What they were doing is conducting government business on their personal devices, possibly because it is easier than operating on classified devices.
  • President Trump does not seem to have been briefed. The Cabinet does not seem to have told the President about this significant security breach, perhaps because they are discussing the President’s guidance.
  • They put U.S. officials at greater collection risk: The high-profile individuals who were part of the group chat are already prime targets for collection. The knowledge of this use of Signal for official business will increase the focus on gaining access to their phones – and other officials’ phones.
  • Finally, this begs the question: If this meeting was held on Signal, what other business was conducted there?
    • Principals Committees (PCs) are typically held at classified levels, but we now know that the Trump Administration is conducting National Security Council-led meetings via Signal in at least this case. Are other sensitive and classified meetings being held via Signal or other unclassified platforms?