United States President Donald Trump has downplayed a recent Signal chat leak as a “witch hunt” and said, without evidence, that the encrypted messaging app “could be defective” as his administration struggles to stem the fallout.
Asked by a reporter on Wednesday if his administration should take more responsibility for the chat leak, Trump responded, “the press [has] up-played it. I think it’s a witch hunt. I wasn’t involved in it. I wasn’t there.”
On Monday, the Trump administration confirmed that a journalist from The Atlantic magazine was accidentally included in a top-secret chat about an upcoming attack on the Houthis in Yemen.
Following widespread criticism from House Democrats, some Republican senators are now calling for an investigation into the scandal, raising concerns about the political fallout if not properly addressed.
Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that he and Senator Jack Reed – the committee’s top Democrat – will send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an expedited inspector general investigation into the use of the Signal messaging app.
They are also calling for a classified briefing with a top administration official “who actually has the facts and can speak on behalf of the administration”, Wicker said.
“The information, as published recently, appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified,” he added.
Asked about the call for an inspector general probe, Trump replied, “It doesn’t bother me.”
In 2014, Hillary Clinton, who served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, was slammed by Republicans for using a private email server to communicate.
It became one of the biggest talking points of the 2016 presidential elections, with Clinton accused of undermining national security. She was defeated by Trump.
Compromising mistake
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, published an article on Monday describing the stunning realisation he’d been added to a group chat with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as well as others, about plans to engage in military strikes in Yemen.
The White House said the information shared through Signal was not classified, an assertion that Democrats said strains credulity considering that it contained sensitive US military plans against Yemen’s Houthis.
Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the position that the Trump administration is staking out can be described with one word: “baloney”.
There are no signs that the controversy will fade soon for Trump, who has said he stands by his national security team and has attacked the reporter’s credibility.
At the same time, he has made clear his preference for his team to discuss such operations in person and in more secure settings, though it is not yet clear if changes will be implemented as a result.
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