When you accidentally get added to a war planning group

from The “Signalgate” Memes Have Entered the Chat
posted by chavenet at 1:13 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]

I'm having every possible reaction to this simultaneously. Like, I started my career in Defense work, there is part of me that is truly just angry at this cartoonishly casual mishandling of classified intel when I took that work so, so seriously - and so did everybody around me. There is also a part of me that is just giggling and shoving popcorn into my mouth. And another part that is really thinking "This? This is the scandal that has at least a little bit of real impact? Seriously? This?" And another that is mad at the language they used, even knowing of course this is how people have talked, in private, unheard, for decades...

But you know what, we have memes. For once we have memes. I'll take what I can get, and "laughing at the Nazis" is - however small - a true win in a time of great losses.

So, in conclusion, LOLOLOLOLOL.
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:14 PM on March 26 [7 favorites]

Then there's the part where we destroyed an apartment building to kill one person.
posted by constraint at 1:18 PM on March 26 [26 favorites]

While we're talking about this very obvious big fuckup, video is out of ICE kidnapping a Tufts university PhD student for a pro-Palestine op-ed she wrote.

No one, even her lawyer, knows where she currently is. Her name is Rumeysa Ozturk.

(sorry don't think we need 100 FPPs for all the horrors).
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 1:19 PM on March 26 [24 favorites]

Whatever else is going on, we are currently clean on OPSEC, so I got that goin' for me.
posted by tclark at 1:20 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]

Previously.

Of course the journalist with a reputation to keep had receipts. I'm curious if there's enough shame that someone feels they should resign over this.

Also, the post title that it's acceptable for a while apartment building to be collateral damage, that needs looking into.
posted by k3ninho at 1:21 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

for a while there I was afraid our descent into fascism wouldn't have any funny parts at all
posted by ryanrs at 1:22 PM on March 26 [7 favorites]

TS/SCI now means "Text on Signal, with Suspicious Civilian Invited"
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:22 PM on March 26 [8 favorites]

Someone said that this scandal may actually have legs because it involves a member of the media and that's determines if a story matters or not.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 1:28 PM on March 26 [6 favorites]

Ungated link.

“We are currently clean on OPSEC”
posted by Klipspringer at 1:33 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

Drew Magary took Goldberg to task for quitting the Signal group too soon, which, yeah I tend to agree. These dummies probably went on to say all kinds of other stuff.
posted by axiom at 1:40 PM on March 26 [7 favorites]

Drew Magary took Goldberg to task for quitting the Signal group too soon

I've actually seen, and agree with, the counterargument that Goldberg deserves applause for speaking up now instead of waiting 3 years and then writing a book about it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:54 PM on March 26 [30 favorites]

Oh, and speaking of funny bits:

Chuck Tingle has announced his latest Tingler is called: JOURNALIST POUNDED BY THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF AN EGREGIOUSLY MISHANDLED GROUP TEXT FROM MEMBERS OF THE TROMP ADMINISTRATION CONTAINING HIGHLY SENSITIVE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:56 PM on March 26 [20 favorites]

Someone said that this scandal may actually have legs because it involves a member of the media and that's determines if a story matters or not.

Goldberg is an extremely establishment media guy so big news outlets immediately felt comfortable running his side of the story as basically gospel, even when the administration tried to intimate he might be lying or might have somehow hacked his way in.

Also, to be cynical, this story can generate a lot of ancillary articles that are easy to get sources for because the topics involved aren't particularly deep—what is Signal, do Americans do too much by text, how can you safeguard your group texts, what are the official rules around confidential information, etc.

And because lots of people including members of Congress and reporters have served in the military and dealt with confidential info, and even more people have worked for employers with confidentiality rules, this plays as an obvious workplace bonehead move by bonehead bosses.

Elon Musk is now also getting involved, which is good for headlines.
posted by smelendez at 2:10 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]

I've actually seen, and agree with, the counterargument that Goldberg deserves applause for speaking up now instead of waiting 3 years and then writing a book about it.

I don't think Magary was suggesting that. I think he's saying that Goldberg should have, rather than police his own membership in the Signal chat, written his piece and let them remove him from the group:

The Signal chat group, I [Goldberg] concluded, was almost certainly real. Having come to this realization, one that seemed nearly impossible only hours before, I removed myself from the Signal group

posted by axiom at 2:17 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]

I absolutely love the fuck out of how Jeff Goldberg and Shane Harris handled this: clear story day 1, with appropriate levels of both crisp detail, and strategic omissions.

Day 2, after denials and hearings: receipts + mic drop.
posted by Dashy at 2:17 PM on March 26 [10 favorites]

From Der Spiegel: Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online

Private contact details of the most important security advisers to U.S. President Mr. Bully can be found on the internet. DER SPIEGEL reporters were able to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses and even some passwords belonging to the top officials.

To do so, the reporters used commercial people search engines along with hacked customer data that has been published on the web. Those affected by the leaks include National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Most of these numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use, with some of them linked to profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. They were used to create Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track running data. There are also WhatsApp profiles for the respective phone numbers and even Signal accounts in some cases.

As such, the reporting has revealed an additional grave, previously unknown security breach at the highest levels in Washington. Hostile intelligence services could use this publicly available data to hack the communications of those affected by installing spyware on their devices. It is thus conceivable that foreign agents were privy to the Signal chat group in which Gabbard, Waltz and Hegseth discussed a military strike.

posted by Dashy at 2:22 PM on March 26 [14 favorites]

It is thus conceivable that foreign agents were privy to the Signal chat group in which Gabbard, Waltz and Hegseth discussed a military strike.

Well, yes- Gabbard was on it.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:27 PM on March 26 [10 favorites]

I feel like staying on that text thread to gather more classified information would probably make you a straight up enemy of the united states, so I can understand the reluctance.
posted by grog at 2:29 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]

Waltz is just killing it on the OPSEC - Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public [archived]
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:37 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]

I feel like staying on that text thread to gather more classified information would probably make you a straight up enemy of the united states, so I can understand the reluctance.

Too bad, that's the job. If you get ahold of the Pentagon Papers you publish about them, you don't shred them.
posted by axiom at 2:49 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Goldberg was meticulous in his timing: he stayed as long as he could believe they were just trolling him, and exited the moment it became clear that it was real. I'm sure he had legal counsel with him every time he pulled that chat open.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:51 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]

Waltz is just killing it on the OPSEC - Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public [archived]
posted by JoeZydeco at 17:37 on March 26
[1 favorite +] [⚑]

Did not realize there was a separate setting from having all transactions private, just fixed that on my own account (you can also remove yourself from being visible on other people's public friends lists)
posted by I paid money to offer this... insight? at 2:59 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

Waltz is just killing it on the OPSEC - Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:16 PM on March 26

security advisers to U.S. President Mr. Bully

since the article says his real name I assume you've got a plugin doing replacements, and I like it.
posted by trig at 3:18 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

I'm sure Goldberg left when he did for caution on legal grounds, but he is not a member of the federal government, the military, and I doubt he has a clearance. There's nothing illegal about him receiving that information. It's illegal for the people in that chat to send it to him. He didn't hack in, didn't breach any security protocols, etc. He could have stayed on the whole chat until the 4 weeks went by and everything was deleted.

I also think his timing was good though, there probably wasn't too much more coming in that particular chat, and publishing when he did kept the story relevant. If he'd been included on lots more of their chats, I'd be on board with axiom, as a journalist you have a duty to the public interest to gather what you can and report on it.

Would this administration try to prosecute him for doing that? Sure. But they're probably going to try that anyway.
posted by mrgoat at 3:27 PM on March 26 [4 favorites]

National treasure Jesse Welles on the Signal Leak.
posted by Reverend John at 3:42 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

"But they're probably going to try that anyway."

Remember when Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tried to prosecute a reporter for having used "view source" to see the HTML on a state agency website?
posted by bz at 3:53 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Yes, I have plug-ins that replace his name and pictures. My sanity is fragile.
posted by Dashy at 3:58 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Steve Witkoff was literally in Russia during the chat using (presumably) an unsecured phone.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:01 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Incidentally, Project 2025 recommended use of apps like Signal to avoid subpoenas over official records.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:05 PM on March 26 [10 favorites]

I feel like staying on that text thread to gather more classified information would probably make you a straight up enemy of the united states, so I can understand the reluctance.

Goldberg voluntarily and enthusiastically signed up to torture innocent people for a foreign government; god forbid he do one actually good thing in his entire miserable life even if it puts him at some personal risk.
posted by adrienneleigh at 4:31 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

Remember when Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tried to prosecute a reporter for having used "view source" to see the HTML on a state agency website

People have gone to jail in the US for "hacking" because they made an intelligent guess at a URL.
posted by Mitheral at 4:53 PM on March 26

You are not currently logged in. Log in or create a new account to post comments.