Democrats are sharply criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after it was revealed The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was added to a text group chat about the administration’s plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) slammed the top officials, calling them incompetent and warning that if the plan details were revealed Americans could have died.
“There is no world in which this information should have been shared in non-secure channels,” he said online. “Hegseth is in so far over his head that he is a danger to this country and our men and women in uniform.”
Moulton called on Congressional Republicans to have Hegseth testify before Congress and “be held accountable.”
Earlier Monday, it was revealed by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic that he was apparently included in a Trump administration group chat on the secure messaging app Signal.
Top officials including Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance discussed details about President Trump’s view on the proposed Houthi attack.
The messages, which Goldberg only shared a few of, also included highly classified details about the attack. Goldberg’s publishing of the article sent shockwaves throughout Washington.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who ran alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris, joked about the news, saying Hegseth was “texting our war plans like invites to a frat party.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) claimed each of the government officials on the text chain have “now committed a crime” that would normally involve a jail sentence.
“We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe,” Coons said.
Sabrina Singh, the Biden administration’s spokesperson for the Defense Department, questioned why the top officials used Signal and how they didn’t “even realize they had a reporter in the chat.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the administration’s messaging was “blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief.”
“Our national security is in the hands of complete amateurs,” she said.
“What other highly sensitive national security conversations are happening over group chat? Any other random people accidently added to those, too?” Warren questioned.
In a letter obtained by Punchbowl News addressed to House leadership and the leaders of the Committee on House Administration, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) said she previously wrote about the need for proper training for classified information in Congress.
She said it was “imperative” following The Atlantic article that government personnel receive training on managing classified material.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) called for people to lose their jobs, “preferably Hegseth,” over the incident.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he was horrified by the reports of the messaging.
“If true, these actions are a brazen violation of laws and regulations that exist to protect national security, including the safety of Americans serving in harm’s way,” Himes said in a statement.
Matthew Miller, a former Obama-era Justice Department official, called for an investigation into the leak and the messages, drawing a comparison to the previous scandal of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton using a private email server.
Several more Democratic lawmakers and committees weighed in online over the news, poking fun at the administration over the stunning report and national security concern.
