U.S. lawmakers demand signal chat investigation as Justice Department seems uninterested
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Congress panel have sent a letter to the Department of Defense inspector general to formally demand the use of signals to Trump’s top national security officials to discuss the investigation into the military strike.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the committee, signed a letter with Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, asking for potential “use the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as sharing such information with those who do not properly clear and need to know.”
Their move comes as the top U.S. law enforcement officers have not promised to disclose any investigation into the matter publicly.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who is not part of a signal chat about the detailed attack plan by a national security official in the Donald Trump administration, will not comment on whether the FBI will open the investigation in two days at a Capitol Hill hearing earlier this week.
He testified that he did not personally review text messages that he had accidentally shared with Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic editor-in-chief, who was mistakenly included in the unclassified signal chat.
The Justice Department has extensive discretion to open up investigations, although it is unclear whether Attorney General Pam Bondi would authorize such investigations.
“A very successful mission”
Trump administration officials insist that the details shared are not classified, although the Espionage Act technically entails any information crime that is considered closely held, even if not classified.
Bondi called a gang leader’s arrest at a news conference in Virginia Thursday, and when reporters were involved, he raised a tone of resistance when the department was involved.
“First of all, this is sensitive information – uncategorized – unintentionally released,” she said. “What we should be talking about is that it is a very successful mission. Because of this mission, our world is safer.”
Bondy then mentioned investigations from several months and years ago, addressing confidential materials to Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton respectively. These inquiries have resulted in no criminal charges.
Bondy did not mention in his answer that Trump faced espionage bill charges in criminal prosecution before being re-elected as president. Sensitive documents were allegedly found in Florida and the New Jersey property he owned, but the case was dismissed and Trump won the November 5, 2024 election, effectively dismissing the matter.
Trump insisted this week that the agency’s involvement in such incidents “it’s not the FBI’s business,” despite the reality that the FBI and the Justice Department have been responsible for enforcing regulations on misconduct, whether intentional or negligent, defense information for decades.
The list includes the case of former CIA Director David Petraeus, who was sentenced to two years of probation in 2015 to disclose confidential information to the biographer of his extramarital transaction.
Democrats have called on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign to deliver information about U.S. weapons and Houthi Aistrikes through Signal, a commercially available application that has not been approved by the federal government to handle information on confidential materials.
They also expressed concern that accountability will not be raised under Trump’s nominated officials (as a candidate complaining that he believes is weaponized by the Justice Department).
“Own it,” the Republican senator said
In addition to protesting that the information is not classified, several Trump officials have also raised the motivation and credibility of journalist Goldberg.
Trump did not seem to understand the signal’s functionality in his comments Wednesday, seemingly suggesting that the app might have malfunctioned.
Even some Republicans expressed frustration at the news from the White House that was passed to reporters.
“Having it, it happened, saying it will never happen,” said North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer.
In their letter, Wicker and Reed hope that the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense Steven Stebbins will send:
- Explain what is conveyed and any actions to conduct communication.
- Evaluate the Pentagon’s policy on sharing sensitive and confidential information and its policy on classification and decryption.
- Identify any differences in classification policies between the White House, the Pentagon, the intelligence community and other agencies.
- Evaluate whether someone has transmitted classified information about the signal.
- Make suggestions to resolve any issues identified.
Concerns about the number of civilian deaths
The strike against Iran-backed Hushis began on March 15 and continued.
Trump’s whereabouts were unclear in the hours before this when the signal chat occurred.
The UK-based group Air Battles said at least five U.S. strikes could have hurt or killed civilians based on videos and photos of the scene, Husai statements and other details. Signal Chat refers to a building where the high-value target’s “girlfriend” lives.
The U.S. military has not yet acknowledged any civilian casualties since the strike a week ago. It declined to answer questions about possible civilian casualties, but said: “Houses continued to convey lies and false information.”
According to Huthis, the overall death toll from the attack was 57.
The Trump administration allows the Middle East-based U.S. military to launch an offensive strike at will instead sign every attack at the White House like former President Joe Biden did.
Colorado State Representative Jim Himes said the chat of the Houthi airstrike that was accidentally leaked to reporters was easily intercepted by U.S. competitors.
According to the Associated Press comments on the action, the Trump administration promised a tougher stance against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and its new airstrike movement appears to be more intense and broader.
Houthis, whose targets are 100 merchant ships with missiles and drones, have been killed in their campaigns since November 2023, killing four sailors. The campaign follows Israel’s war in Gaza, and originates from a deadly attack on October 7, 2023, led by Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by several Western countries.
Huthis did not acknowledge the leadership losses in their recent air strikes.
On Thursday, they claimed responsibility for two Israeli long-range missiles.
Air strike sirens were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, central Israel and the occupied West Bank, local media reported
The debris fell in several places. Israeli troops said the missiles were intercepted and there were no reports of injuries.
