BURSTSen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Trump administration for using a Signal group to discuss plans for carrying out bombing in Yemen, calling on officials to resign and saying others would have been fired for the same actions.
Warner said national security adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not “conduct hygiene 101” in failing to realize there was a journalist on the group chat after The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added.
“There's plenty of declassified information that shows that our adversaries, China and Russia, are trying to break into encrypted systems,” Warner said of the messaging app ] Signal during his opening remarks of the Senate panel's annual worldwide threats hearing.
“If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer and they had this kind of behavior, they would be fired,” he added.
“This is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information, that this is not a one-off or a first-time error."
Warner noted that "classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system."
On the social platform X as he began his opening remarks, Warner called on the two Trump officials to resign.
“When the stakes are this high, incompetence is not an option. Pete Hegseth should resign. Mike Waltz should resign,” he wrote.
Goldberg disclosed Monday that he was added to a Signal group chat with several high-ranking Trump national security officials, saying the group shared detailed plans about the military action in Yemen earlier this month as well as information about timing and weapons systems.
“Everybody on this committee gets briefed on security protocols. They're told you don't make calls outside of SCIFs,” Warner said, referencing the secure facilities used to discuss classified information.
“No, the Signal fiasco is not a one-off. It is unfortunately a pattern we're seeing too often repeated,” he said, adding the “erosion of trust” among the intelligence workforce and allies across the globe “can't be put back in the bottle overnight.”
“Make no mistake: These actions make America less safe,” he added.
Updated at 10:48 a.m. EDT