Testifying before the Senate, Gabbard looked at the 2024 US cybersecurity guidance that encourages government officials to use encrypted messaging apps such as signals.
National Intelligence Director Tarsi Gabbard testified that the signal messaging app used in the chat was “pre-installed on government devices” as he faced questions from the second day about leaked Trump administration text conversations about Yemen’s military strike.
Lawmakers raised questions about the signalling app after reporting that Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg had been inadvertently added to text conversations among high-level Trump administration officials who discussed plans to attack Yemen’s targets. Throughout the first article on March 24, Goldberg raised concerns that the Trump administration’s chief executive was discussing details of the sensitive operation, and appeared unaware that he had been looping into the conversation.
Since then, the National Security Council has confirmed that the textual conversations described by Goldberg appear to be authentic.
Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on March 26, Gabbard said the National Security Council is investigating how Goldberg has become accessible to group chats and how his presence has been overlooked. She repeated that no information classified into this text channel was sent.
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A US cybersecurity officer issued the guidance after discovering the “salt timp” communication hack last fall. Violations, standard calls and text messaging data have been compromised, which US cybersecurity officials believe were committed by state-backed hackers in China.
Testimony on Tuesday revealed that Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe (although both of its full chat chains) were unaware of discussions within the channel about the specific weapons and timing of the new US strike in Yemen.
The current classification rules issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) suggest that they apply to communications that include “military planning, weapons systems, or operations,” “US foreign activities,” or “details of damage assessments.”
When asked to justify Tuesday’s testimony before the Senate, where a new message was released on Wednesday, Gabbard said:
“I couldn’t remember the exact details of what was contained there.”
Andrew Thornebrooke contributed to this report.
