US intel chief Tulsi Gabbard admits reporter’s inclusion on Signal chat was ‘mistake’

In the testimony before the Senate, Gabbard, who is the country’s chief intelligence officer, reiterated the stance of Trump administration that the leak of chat was a “mistake” and informed that the National Security Council is conducting “an in-depth review along with technical experts” to determine how the journalist was added to the Signal group chat which had high-level staff “having a policy discussion”.

Gabbard said, “The president and national security adviser (Mike) Waltz held a press conference yesterday with a clear message: it was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with high-level national security principals having a policy discussion about imminent strikes against the Houthis and the effects of the strike,” as quoted by CNN.

The Atlantic’s journalist Jeffrey Goldberg received a request on Signal app from an account that purported to be White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. Goldberg was then added to the group named “Houthi PC small group”.

The Atlantic’s Goldberg stated “There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”