Roger Stone criticizes Trump officials over war plans group chat
Republican political operative Roger Stone, generally a fierce defender of President Trump, said high-level administration officials were wrong to use a private app to communicate sensitive military plans, during an interview with NewsNation's Chris Cuomo on Monday.
"Secure conversations shouldn’t be had over any app that is available," Stone said. "I don't think there are any secure at all."
The Atlantic reported Monday that Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently included on a group chat, using the encrypted messaging app Signal, in which top officials discussed plans for the then-imminent March 15 surprise military air strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The group included Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Goldberg's report on Monday sent shockwaves across the political landscape, with some Republicans expressing alarm, or at least asking for answers. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said he was nearly certain that Russia and China would have seen the chats as well.
“Americans, unfortunately, should assume that everything that you look at, everything you write, everything you say, can ultimately be accessed,” said Stone, a long-time confidant of President Trump. "In retrospect, they probably should use a more secure chain."
Hegseth reportedly sent the group explicit details in the exchange, which Goldberg said he initially suspected could be misinformation or a hoax until bombs started dropping as discussed.
"The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing," Goldberg wrote in an article.
Waltz, who added Goldberg to the chain, and Hegseth have faced calls from Democrats for their resignation over the snafu, but GOP leaders have mostly stood by them.
"Apparently an inadvertent phone number made it onto that thread. They’re going to track that down and make sure that doesn’t happen again," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Monday.
"Clearly, I think the administration has acknowledged it was a mistake, and they’ll tighten up and make sure it doesn’t happen again."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on the social platform X on Tuesday that Trump "continues to have confidence in his national security team."
Hegseth has denied sharing "war plans" or classified information on the thread. He blasted Goldberg as "a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again."
However, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes confirmed to Goldberg that the group chat appeared to be authentic, and said officials were investigating how he had been included in it.
Goldberg hit back at Hegseth's claims during an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Monday.
"That’s a lie. He was texting war plans," the long-time foreign affairs correspondent said. "He was texting attack plans. When targets were going to be targeted; how they were going to be targeted; who was at the targets; when the next sequence of attacks was happening."
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