The Atlantic felt their story was dying. The Trump administration said no classified war plans were discussed in the Signal chat story that’s captured the hyper-regional confines of liberal America. It looks like a nothing burger vis-à-vis a severe breach in classified information, though still an unforced error on behalf of top officials. To recap, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a group chat on the encrypted messenger app, which was pre-downloaded on the devices of those involved in the chat, which included CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and Vice President JD Vance.
The hook was that classified war plans were discussed, and Mr. Ratcliffe shot down a claim. There was nothing classified, Jeff, so release the texts. At first, he decided not to do it, simply claiming his detractors were wrong—a typical response when fake news is knowingly peddled.