Anadolu: Former US National Security Adviser (NSA) Mike Waltz, during his confirmation hearing for UN ambassador, defended on Tuesday the use of Signal in a group chat that included sensitive military discussions in March.
Waltz, who served briefly as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he faced questions about his involvement in “Signalgate,” the controversy surrounding a group chat in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and officials discussed plans for an attack on Houthi targets in Yemen hours before it took place March 15, while inadvertently including Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine.
Sen. Chris Coons asked, “Were you investigated for this disclosure of sensitive operational information on signal?”
Waltz said the use of a Signal chat was driven by recommendations stemming from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidance that existed during the former Biden administration.
Waltz said there was “no classified information” exchanged.
The White House conducted an investigation, Waltz said, adding the Pentagon is still conducting an investigation.
When asked whether any disciplinary action was taken by the White House investigation center, Waltz said: “No. The use of Signal was not only authorized, it’s still authorized, and highly recommended.”
Coons asked whether Waltz would recommend Signal for classified information.
“Again, we followed the recommendation … but there was no classified information shared,” Waltz replied.
Coons said that although at the time Waltz took responsibility for inadvertently adding the journalist to the chat, it appears the administration has not taken any action to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
The “Signalgate” incident raised questions about the administration’s handling of classified military information after sensitive details about weapons packages, targets and timing were shared on the unsecured platform.
“I was hoping to hear you had some sense of regret over sharing what was very sensitive, timely information about a military strike on a commercially available app,” Coons said.
“Again, senator, I think where we have a fundamental disagreement is there was no classified information on that chat,” Waltz said.
