PNN – FBI Director Kesh Patel declined to comment on Tuesday on the investigation into the leak of national security information on the Signal messenger.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Intelligence community leaders, speaking to Democratic Senator Mark Warner on the Senate Intelligence Committee, downplayed a revelation that senior members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet shared detailed operational plans and other classified information about U.S. military strikes in Yemen in a Signal messaging group to which a reporter was inadvertently added.
While Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe both denied the claim of sharing classified information on Signal, Senator Warner called on the FBI director to explain the FBI’s possible investigation into what happened.
Warner asked: Mr. Patel, has the FBI opened an investigation into this?
Under normal circumstances, the FBI and the Justice Department would launch an investigation into whether classified information was shared without authorization, as that is a criminal offense, CNN reported. But officials at the Signal messenger have discretionary powers, meaning they can lower the level of confidentiality and say no legal violation occurred.
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Jeffrey Goldberg, a veteran American journalist and editor of The Atlantic, announced on March 24, 2025, that the National Security Council of the Donald Trump administration mistakenly added him to a secret chat group on the Signal messenger, shared information with him about airstrikes on Houthi (Ansarullah) positions in Yemen, and learned about conversations between senior American officials about attacks on Yemen.
White House National Security Adviser Michael (Mike) Waltz initiated the conversation via the encrypted messaging app Signal. The group included the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Adviser, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence and other senior US government officials.
According to the report, officials in the group discussed the need for strikes on Yemen and the Trump administration’s justifications for them. “I’m amazed that no one in the group noticed my presence,” Goldberg wrote, following the conversation on the Signal messaging app.
The Atlantic editor went on to say that he had voluntarily withheld some of the information in Hegsett’s lengthy letter, saying that its contents “could be used by enemies of the United States to harm American forces and intelligence personnel.”
President Donald Trump told NBC News on Tuesday that he still had confidence in his national security adviser, Mike Waltz. When asked if he was upset that the Atlantic story was getting attention, Trump said no, calling it “just a technical glitch in the last two months” and not a serious problem.
The United States has launched massive airstrikes against Houthi (Ansarullah) positions in Yemeni provinces since March 15.