When I was a young financial trainer, my CEO accidentally sent me confidential emails about a private equity group's impending takeover of the firm. The first time, I ignored the mail. The second time, I emailed him, writing, “I don’t think these emails are meant for me.”

He immediately called me into his office and told me that I had to keep quiet; no one was to know about the deal. I understood and promised him that I wouldn’t tell anyone. As I left the office, I asked why he had sent me the emails. He told me his lawyer’s name was “Sean” and that he hadn’t realized his mistake until I pointed it out.

I didn’t tell a soul and was rewarded with shares in the new entity. For the first time in my professional life, I understood the benefits of discretion. 

I relay this story because I never liked Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor of The Atlantic. Goldberg is a warmonger on par with John Bolton - always has been - and war is the last thing America needs.

Yesterday, news broke that Atlantic editor Goldberg was added to a Signal group between the nation’s most senior officials.

Senior officials should never discuss anything related to the nation on Signal or any other app. That it was related to war makes it reckless. And in a group with a reporter? Unconscionable. But was it done with malice or purpose?

Let’s parse out what happened.

Unofficial Means of Communication Are Unacceptable

This is Professionalism 101. Never message on an unsanctioned app. This is why there were doubts about the Donald’s appointments. If you work in a bank, consulting firm, law firm, or similar organization, you better use a company phone with company messaging, or you're in big trouble.

I have never communicated with clients using apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, or, in this instance, Signal. It’s prohibited and could lead to dismissal, especially if something goes wrong. If things go well, you’re lucky if you merely get hauled in front of HR and told not to do it again.

You’d think former military members would get that, but I guess not. Hegseth, Vance, and Gabbard should know better. Sorry, but this is Amateur Hour-level silliness.

No One in the Group Raised the Alarm

That leads me to the question: How did no one stand up and say, “Hey, maybe we need to take this conversation elsewhere.”?

According to Goldberg’s article:

On Tuesday, March 11, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz. Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text-messaging services are capable of delivering. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. I did not assume, however, that the request was from the actual Michael Waltz. I have met him in the past, and though I didn’t find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it somewhat unusual, given the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with journalists—and Trump’s periodic fixation on me specifically. It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me. It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.

I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.

Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.”

A message to the group, from “Michael Waltz,” read as follows: “Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”

The message continued, “Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.”

First things first. According to Goldberg, the "PC” in “Houthi PC small group" stands for “Principals Committee.” This “generally refers to a group of the senior-most national-security officials, including the secretaries of defense, state, and the treasury, as well as the director of the CIA.

The acronym "POC” at the end of the message stands for "Point of Contact,” suggesting that while Pete Hegseth’s name is in the message group, another person is typing on his behalf. The article states it was Dan Caldwell. That goes for other senior officials as well. (This doesn’t absolve them of being part of this group.)

First question: What was Mike Waltz or his POC thinking? He’s not much of a National Security Advisor if he’s creating Signal groups for senior officials and including journalists.

Second question: Why would he include Goldberg? It’s either a massive mistake or intentional. Let’s explore that later.

Returning to the beginning of this section, why didn’t anyone in the group object to talking shop on Signal? This leads me to think this happens all the time, and I find that alarming. We know from Tucker Carlson that the NSA knew he was going to interview Putin by hacking his Signal account. Why would Hegseth or Gabbard believe Signal was secure enough to handle this type of conversation?

Take the L, Pete…?

I watched Hegseth’s self-defense on Fox News. Although Goldberg claimed he saw “war plans” and didn’t release them, Hegseth stated that no war plans were posted. Fortunately, the only things Goldberg shared were thoughts we already knew. Namely, that Vance and Hegseth hate subsidizing Europe’s defense. (However, JD Vance’s questioning of the entire operation is as MAGA as it gets. Only 3% of America’s trade goes through the Suez Canal, while 40% of Europe’s does, and Egypt is an economic wreck without Suez traffic.)

You may have seen it differently, but I think Hegseth was being genuine. He clearly can’t stand Goldberg, and smeared him by calling him “deceitful” and “highly discredited.” I agree, but was Goldberg right in this case? Maybe. Maybe not.

Still, he needs to acknowledge that he and other senior officials should never - and will never - use Signal as a means of communication again. 

Was Goldberg’s Inclusion an Accident?

There is the possibility, however remote, that Waltz included Goldberg for a specific reason. It may be to increase the war rhetoric against the Houthis. After all, Goldberg is the most prominent warmongering journalist in DC. 

According to Goldberg’s article:

Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, responded two hours later, confirming the veracity of the Signal group. “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Hughes wrote. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”

Why would Hughes confirm the thread to Goldberg? What was Waltz playing at?

These are serious questions that require answers. While all these officials need to wake up and be more professional, Waltz is in the direct firing line.

Wrap Up

What a mess. The Donald needs to investigate and resolve this to the satisfaction of the American people. The last thing he needs is for his administration to appear out of its depth.

If I had to make a stand, I’d say the senior officials got lax. I imagine they didn’t check who was on the chat with them, because they’d assume Waltz wouldn’t add anyone from outside the senior circle. But that’s what assumptions get you.

And then they started to talk. Luckily, no one said anything too sensitive. But on Signal? Their buddy Tucker told the world the NSA could hack it. And if the NSA can, the Chinese and Russians already have.

My advice to the administration is to eliminate all normie apps from communication. They talk on the office phone with an official app and that’s it. The next violation gets you fired, no questions asked.

We all make mistakes, but this could’ve been a big one. Let’s thank Lady Luck by getting better.