The hearing had been scheduled for a long time. On Tuesday, March 25, the heads of US intelligence services were to give their yearly assessment of the threats facing the country before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. But the main threat to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe was that of ridicule. The two members of the Trump administration tried by every means – amnesia, dishonesty, denial – to avoid drowning in the face of insistent questions about the scandal that is rocking Washington: a group chat on the Signal app.

In this group chat, to which The Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg – who broke the story – was mistakenly added, senior members of the administration traded views on imminent strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The strikes were ultimately launched on March 15. In addition to Gabbard and Ratcliffe, participants included National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Presidential Administration Susie Wiles and her deputy, White House ideologue Stephen Miller. Goldberg thought he was being set up and only realized the authenticity of the group when the strikes were launched.

You have 79.99% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.