A nonprofit watchdog, American Oversight, requested the order. A government attorney said the administration already was taking steps to collect and save the messages.
On the chat, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop before the attacks against Yemen’s Houthis began earlier this month. Hegseth laid out when a “strike window” would open, where a “target terrorist” was located and when weapons and aircraft would be used.
The images of the text chain posted by The Atlantic show that the messages were set to disappear in one week.
Hey look! It’s another court order to defy!
I wonder if this will be the first instance of emojis being submitted for government communication preservation.
Nah, I’ve litigated against the government before. Lots of emails and IM systems (including Lync or Skype for Business, before Teams took over) have lots of casual communications between government employees. Think the “Brian’s Hat” sketch from I Think You Should Leave.
That’s a good point, do they have to include a definition of what the emoji probably stands for? We’re living in a weird time.
Is there more than what was already released by The Atlantic? Aren’t there probably like millions of randos on the internet “preserving” the messages?
I found another article that says it includes more than just the messages accidentally sent to the reporter.
Boasberg, speaking from the bench, ordered the defendants in the case — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — “to preserve all Signal communications between March 11 and March 15.” That directive appears to sweep more broadly than simply the messages that were shared with Goldberg: It could cover other Signal messages the officials sent or received during that time.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/27/judge-order-preserve-signal-chats-00255675
It’s time for the Democrats to show them their paddle again !
