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Federal Judge Orders Preservation of Communications Related to Sensitive Military Operations
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has mandated that agencies preserve all communications from a Signal group chat discussing sensitive military operations in Yemen between March 11 and March 15. Judge James Boasberg’s order requires the agencies involved to report on their preservation efforts by next week.
This ruling follows significant revelations from The Atlantic, which reported that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was unintentionally added to a chat focusing on military strike plans against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. The chat included high-ranking officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Screenshots released by The Atlantic reveal that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz included Goldberg in the conversation, initially setting it to auto-delete after a week and later modifying it to delete after four weeks. American Oversight, a left-leaning advocacy organization, filed a preliminary lawsuit contending that the discussions in the Signal chat breach the Federal Records Act, as they pertain to agency decision-making that necessitates record-keeping.
The court’s stipulations state: “As agreed by the parties in today’s hearing, the Court ORDERS that: 1) Defendants shall promptly make best efforts to preserve all Signal communications from March 11-15, 2025; 2) By March 31, 2025, Defendants shall file a Status Report detailing the preservation steps taken; and 3) This Order shall expire on April 10, 2025, if the measures taken by the Defendants meet the Court’s satisfaction,” according to a court readout.
The Atlantic represented the content of the conversation in two articles, holding back specific information that might have jeopardized American pilots until relevant officials confirmed that the discussions did not include classified material. Current and former officials have stated that the exchanged strike plans, which detailed attack times and the use of military assets like F-18 jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones, were indeed classified and should not have been relayed over an open-source, ephemeral messaging platform.
In a response filed on Thursday, a defense attorney contended that the judge’s order was unnecessary, noting that the involved agencies were already in the process of locating and safeguarding the Signal chat, and that at least one agency had discovered and recorded a portion of the conversation into a federal record-keeping system.
Chioma Chukwu, Interim Executive Director of American Oversight, remarked on the ruling, stating, “This order marks an important step toward accountability. We are grateful for the judge’s ruling to halt any further destruction of these critical records. The public has a right to know how decisions about war and national security are made — and accountability doesn’t disappear just because a message was set to auto-delete.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly emphasized that “The Trump Administration has and will continue to comply with all applicable record-keeping laws,” as reported by Nextgov/FCW.
Gabbard defended the nature of the conversation during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, asserting, “The conversation was candid and sensitive, but as the president [and] national security adviser stated, no classified information was shared. This was a standard update to the National Security Cabinet that was provided alongside updates given to foreign partners in the region.” She also noted that the Signal messaging app is standard on government devices, a claim later disputed by sources familiar with government mobile device policies, who indicated her statement was inaccurate.
Attorney General Pam Bondi indicated on Thursday that the Justice Department would likely not pursue an investigation, stating, “It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released.” She redirected criticism towards previous controversies involving classified documents related to other political figures.
Amid the fallout, Senate Democrats have requested hearings within the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Intelligence committees regarding the incident. Despite the criticisms, any investigation will be influenced by the current GOP-led Congress. Members of the House Republican caucus reportedly expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the matter.
In a letter sent Thursday, Roger Wicker, the GOP chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with his Democratic counterpart Jack Reed, called for the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate the details surrounding the incident. They stated, “If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information,” reiterating the seriousness of the issue.
Additionally, reports surfaced that Israel provided critical intelligence regarding a key Houthi operative discussed in the Signal conversation. U.S. officials have indicated that Israeli counterparts expressed concerns after the details of the chat became publicly known.
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