If one thing is clear to me after this week's "Signalgate" revelations, it's that the "Houthi Small Group PC" was not the first — and far from the only — revealing group chat between top national security officials in the Trump administration.
Otherwise, it sure seems like some of the participants would have objected to the kind of sensitive information, opinions and operational military details shared so freely on the chain. But not a single person did.
And this is important because every single Signal conversation where sensitive information was shared — whether it was about a military operation, a diplomatic negotiation or even just brainstorming between high-level White House officials — has the potential to provide information to our adversaries and enemies.
In order to monitor and evaluate what types of information is being shared, the intelligence community would typically do a damage assessment. But damage assessments are likely impossible for Signal chains that may have been deleted. Did M-A-R — Signal shorthand for Secretary of State Marco Antonio Rubio — archive all of his posts? Did S.M., otherwise known as Stephen Miller, ensure that there was a saved copy for the national archives? I think we all know the answer.
Without these logs, we may never know the full consequences of this carelessness. After all, the only reason we even know about the "Houthi Small Group PC" is because they accidentally included a reporter.
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