Hegseth, Rubio, and Caine Had an Auto-Deleting Signal Chat
New records reveal that officials kept using the app, even after the president suggested they stop.
TL;DR
- President Trump advised against using the Signal app after a security incident involving The Atlantic's editor-in-chief.
- Despite the president's advice, top officials like Mauricio Claver-Carone, Marco Rubio, and Mike Needham continued to use Signal for official communications.
- New records released in response to a FOIA request reveal broader use of Signal by Trump administration officials than previously known.
- Some Signal groups, including one involving Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Rubio, were set to automatically delete messages, raising concerns about record preservation.
- Democracy Forward has labeled these auto-deleting chats as potential violations of the Federal Records Act and urged action.
- The State Department stated that Signal is an approved app pre-loaded on government phones and that Secretary Rubio does not use auto-delete functions for communications that may include federal records.
- A judge previously ordered the recovery of records at risk of deletion due to government use of messaging apps, leading to the installation of new software to ensure document retention.
- Redactions in the released chats were primarily for personal privacy, deliberative processes, or attorney-client privilege, not national security concerns.