Buzz on National Security and Signal Chat Packs Q&A Café
By • April 14, 2025 0 174
About 100 people crowded into the cozy upstairs dining room of the GeorgeTown Club on April 8 to have lunch and to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Shane Harris, formerly with the Washington Post, talk about how national security interests have changed under the Trump administration.
Harris brought along his book, “The Watchers: the Rise of America’s Surveillance State.” After 9/11, Harris maintains the mantra of surveillance inside the USA became: “Watch everyone! Watch everything! And Watch them all the time.”
But what everyone really wanted to hear about — and where hostess and CBS News producer and longtime Georgetowner Carol Joynt quickly led the discussion — was the latest in the “Signal Chat” scandal.
That occurred when Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was “accidentally” and unintentionally patched into a March 15 security planning meeting on his phone via a popular app called Signal. On the call were cabinet members, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. They discussed details, timings and targets of an upcoming military operation against the Houthis in Yemen.
Harris had no answers as to how Goldberg ended up on the call. “It’s never happened before in my experience covering national security for decades,” he said. But he shared that he thought it was correct that Goldberg at first did not share any bit of the information he had heard.
“Once Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured everyone that nothing of importance or significant or of any possible damage was discussed on the call however, the Atlantic then felt free on March 26 to publish the entire transcript,” Harris said. The incident has caused a week-long brouhaha about competence of the Trump national security team.
It also raised some journalism ethical questions. “If the information had contained damaging secrets, would the Atlantic have published it?” Harris was asked. “No,” he replied.
“Will this scandal go on?” asked Joynt. “It could, yes.” Harris said.
Goldberg is now a colleague of Harris who moved to the Atlantic last year along with several other Washington Post top reporters.
“We’re all together again in an office — even my former boss,” Harris laughed.
“We have made peace with the transitions at the Washington Post where changes such as ending the Sunday opinion section were a huge jolt. But don’t blame the journalists. Blame the business side,” Harris said.
Nevertheless, he applauded owner Jeff Bezos for being a “good steward” of the newspaper in keeping it still publishing.
