There’s an old saying somewhere: ‘Don’t poke the bear if the bear has the receipts.’
And after the Trump administration spent much of yesterday insisting the contents of the Signal group chat inadvertently leaked to an editor at The Atlantic were not classified, the outlet dropped the receipts, releasing a full, minimally redacted version of the messages this morning.
The release came just hours before Trump cabinet officials like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel began their testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.
Here’s the lunchtime lowdown, which U.S. News will be publishing each weekday to keep track of the goings-on in Washington and beyond:
The Atlantic published the full text thread from the infamous group chat that detailed U.S. military strikes carried out against the Houthis in Yemen. In the newly public texts, Hegseth can be seen sharing extraordinary details like “Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,” and “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).” Read more.
Several members of Trump’s national security team are facing the House Intelligence Committee today, including Gabbard, Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, where they are being grilled on that group chat. Gabbard admitted that accidentally adding the reporter was a “mistake” but maintained that no classified information was compromised. Read more.
District Judge James Boasberg, who has drawn the Trump administration’s ire for his handling of a lawsuit over deportation flights, was assigned a lawsuit over Signalgate this morning filed by watchdog group American Oversight. The organization’s suit against Hegseth, Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others argues their use of Signal violated federal record-keeping laws, as some of the messages were reportedly set to auto-delete, among other violations. Read more.
Chief executives from NPR and PBS are defending their funding and pushing back against accusations of bias in a heated congressional hearing today. At it, NPR’s CEO and President Katherine Maher admitted she regretted calling Trump a “racist” and “sociopath” on social media in 2020, while PBS chief Paula Kerger defended the outlet’s handling of a presidential debate and other coverage. Meanwhile, the director of Voice of America – another federally funded media outlet – filed a lawsuit today over its intended shuttering. Read more.
Democrats in Pennsylvania won a special election in state House race to ensure they keep majority control of the chamber by a single representative, and appeared to flip a state Senate race in a deep red district.The latter result was cheered by high-profile Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are eager for wins amid a Republican trifecta at the federal level. Read more.
