Ranking Members Connolly and Frost Launch Investigation Into Trump Administration Officials Sharing War Plans in An Insecure Group Chat
Following Reporting that Secretary Hegseth and Other High-Ranking Trump Officials Discussed War Plans in a Group Chat With a Reporter, Ranking Members Connolly and Frost Demand the Preservation of Documents and Communications
Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2025)—Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent a letter to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio advising them to preserve records in accordance with the law as Committee Democrats launch an investigation into a catastrophic and confounding security breach, in which journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a Signal group chat where the Trump Administration’s senior national security leaders discussed classified plans for a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
“This incident raises grave concerns about the misuse of unsecured communication platforms for classified discussions and the potential that American military and intelligence professionals may have been compromised by the reckless dissemination of such classified material,” wrote the Ranking Members. “Accordingly, this letter serves as a formal request that you, your agents, employees, agencies, and representatives preserve and not alter, delete, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any and all documents, communications, materials, and electronically stored information (ESI) that may be relevant to this matter.”
During a March 25, 2025, hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard verbally confirmed the existence of the Signal group chat and their participation. Director Gabbard also confirmed that she no longer had access to the messages in question, presumably due to the “disappearing messages” setting.
This incident raises grave concerns about the misuse of unsecured communication platforms for classified discussions and the potential that American military and intelligence professionals may have been compromised by the reckless dissemination of such classified material. Further, it is not clear that this was an isolated incident, nor is it clear that the involved officials are abiding by record preservation laws since it has been reported that the messages were set to “disappear” after a certain amount of time.
The duty to preserve records and materials is established by statute, including all federal and Presidential records, as well as documents, communications, materials, and ESI designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the U.S. Government and persons directly affected by the agency's activities. Failure to preserve relevant records may result in penalties including fines, imprisonment, or disqualification from holding any office under the United States.
“We demand that you immediately suspend any automatic or routine document destruction policies, including email deletion protocols, shredding schedules, data overwriting processes, or automatic message deletion that may result in the loss of potentially relevant information,” the Ranking Members concluded.
Click here to read Ranking Members Connolly and Frost’s letter to National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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