Tuesday evening, during an interview with Fox News, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz took “full responsibility” for accidentally including the editor of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, in the Signal chat in which military strikes against the Houthis, in Yemen, were discussed.
“I built the group. My job is to make sure everything’s coordinated,” Waltz said, “I take full responsibility”. The adviser also said that he did not know that he had the well-known U.S. journalist’s cell phone number in his address book.
“Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else’s number there?”, continued Waltz, who then attacked Goldberg by stating, “of course I didn’t see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened by some other technical means is something we’re trying to figure out.” In short, Waltz implied that the editor of The Atlantic might have infiltrated the group. Waltz also suggested that tech mogul and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, could help the White House figure out what happened.
The National Security Adviser called Goldberg “vile,” adding: ““I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys, and gone to Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States, and he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group”.
The official also said he has already spoken with Musk, explaining “We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened- But I can tell you for 100% — I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation. And he really is the bottom scum of journalists”.
Despite Waltz’s venomous remarks, the editor of The Atlantic is regarded as one of the brightest professionals in the country. In his lengthy article that has now gone around the world, Goldberg recounted that he was surprised by the invitation he was sent by the National Security Adviser to join the group, and that he initially thought it was a joke-until the messages on Signal were followed by the real bombardment, with jubilant emoji from chat participants.
The journalist shared several screenshots of the chat in question. However, he stressed that he has not published in full — at least for now — the pieces of the chat that gave concrete indications of the attack’s military plans, due to national security concerns.
Goldberg, however, said in an interview with the Bulwark Podcast that he is considering publishing other parts of the chat on Signal. He explained that he and his team are carefully considering publishing the entire archive of messages. “Just because they’re irresponsible with material, doesn’t mean that I’m going to be irresponsible”, he said, but at the same time stressing the sensitivity of the material he received. Concern for national security and also for his own personal safety as publication could also expose him to legal risks.
