US Judge steps in, orders Trump officials to preserve Signal messages on Houthi attacks

US District Judge James Boasberg issued the order after a lawsuit by American Oversight, a watchdog group, argued that using Signal for official government communication violated the Federal Records Act. According to BBC, the judge directed officials to keep any messages sent or received between 11 and 15 March to prevent their destruction.

The lawsuit names several senior officials, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The National Security Council later confirmed the chat’s authenticity, according to AP.

The Atlantic first reported the existence of the Signal chat, highlighting concerns that messages were set to disappear after a short period. Judge Boasberg clarified in court that his order was “not a finding of wrongdoing” but intended to ensure that no records were lost.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded to the ruling, stating, “The Trump Administration has and will continue to comply with all applicable record-keeping laws,” as quoted by AP.

American Oversight welcomed the decision, with its executive director Chioma Chukwu telling BBC, “This order marks an important step toward accountability… we are grateful for the judge’s ruling to halt any further destruction of these critical records.”

The lawsuit argues that by using a private, encrypted platform that automatically deletes messages, Trump officials failed to forward these communications to an official government system, violating record-keeping laws. “Without court action, they – and many like them – will be automatically destroyed or lost forever,” the suit states, as reported by AP.

At the hearing on Thursday, Judge Boasberg confirmed that the order to preserve the messages would remain in effect until 10 April, pending further review.

(with inputs from agencies)

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