Senior U.S. Officials Inadvertently Added Journalist to Sensitive National Security Chat

What Happened?

A sensitive online national security chat between top U.S. officials inadvertently included a journalist from the Atlantic this week.

In the discussion, top U.S. officials including the Secretary of Defense and Vice-President appeared to have been discussing military strategy in Yemen while unaware their conversation included civilian journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. 

The conversation took place using the encrypted chat app Signal, and the U.S. Department of Defense has indicated the exposed discussion was real. 

Why it Matters

Operational security is vital for future military strikes because if adversaries were aware of pending attacks they could increase their security, putting the lives of U.S. military personnel at greater risk. 

In this case future attacks against the Houthi in Yemen appear to have been among the topics of discussion by senior U.S. officials.

Although Signal is an encrypted chat application, it doesn’t meet the same stringent standards as secure internet protocol, or SIPRNET. This is what the Department of Defense legally uses to discuss and share classified information. 

There are no regulations authorizing the sharing of classified information or the holding of classified discussions on Signal.

Last year a member of the Air National Guard was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for sharing classified information through online chats. However, there are significant differences between that incident and the recent one involving Signal. 

The Air National Guard member repeatedly posted classified material over a long period of time. By contrast, this is the first known instance of senior officials holding classified discussions using Signal. 

The U.S. Department of Defense has secure telephone and internet services specifically designed to safeguard classified information. That’s why all DoD personnel are trained to only use approved secure devices and systems for sharing or discussing classified information. 

It is unclear why the officials involved in the Signal incident chose not to use approved equipment. 

If our adversaries had gotten access to the Yemen discussion on the future Houthi strikes, they could have informed the Houthi. That would enable them to increase air defenses around selected targets which would have put American aviators in danger. 

Thankfully that didn’t happen.

While the use of Signal to hold classified discussions is probably a violation of Department of Defense policy, it remains unclear whether any laws were broken. Inadvertent releases of classified information do happen in the military from time to time, and rarely are the individuals involved ever prosecuted. 

Most of the time, if the release of classified was unintentional, those involved receive administrative punishment not prosecution in court.

How it Affects You

The sheer volume of classified material and the huge number of people who hold security clearances make security incidents inevitable.

But in this case, everyone involved had enough experience they should have known better. Whether anyone will face legal consequences remains to be seen.