Judge Orders Officials to Preserve Signal Messages, But Stops Short of Retrieving Deleted Records

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered top Trump administration officials to preserve any Signal messages related to military planning after watchdog group American Oversight sued over the use of the encrypted app. The group had filed suit after journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a group chat in which senior officials discussed a planned U.S. airstrike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Judge James Boasberg declined to order recovery of already-deleted messages, saying there was no evidence that such a move would succeed. However, he did issue a preliminary injunction requiring officials to prevent future deletion of messages potentially subject to the Federal Records Act.

Named in the suit are Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and others. Hegseth denies that any classified information was shared, despite reports he posted targeting data in Signal chats, including one with his wife and brother.

Boasberg said agencies’ recordkeeping systems appear compliant but warned future deletions must be avoided.

Source(s)

• NPR – MBFC Rating