Signal Chat Leak: United States National Security Advisor Michael Waltz has taken “full responsibility” for a recently leaked Signal group chat of Trump officials that discussed plans for an upcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News on “The Ingraham Angle” on Tuesday (US Time). “It’s embarrassing. We are going to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Waltz said he does not personally know Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was added to the chat.
The leak triggered a storm after Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, wrote a first-person account of getting a connection request from what appeared to be Waltz on March 11 on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging service used by journalists and government officials.
Goldberg said he accepted the request and that he was then added to a chat group called “Houthi PC Small Group,” where he proceeded to see a series of top Trump officials discuss what turned out to be an upcoming attack on the Houthis.
Many have called this leak a massive breach of national security even as US President Donald Trump has denied claims that classified information was shared in a Signal group. In fact, President Trump stood by Waltz and said that he does not need to apologise.
“He’s a very good man, and he will continue to do a good job,” Trump said, dismissing calls for an apology.
Who is Mike Waltz?
In November last year, Trump picked Michael Waltz, a former Florida congressman, to be his national security adviser. At that time, Trump called Walz “a nationally recognised leader in national security” and an “expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism.”
Waltz succeeded Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, is a three-term Republican from St Augustine Beach, Florida, representing the Daytona Beach area in Congress since 2019, according to USA Today
Waltz is a known China hawk and was the first Green Beret elected to Congress. During the presidential campaign, Waltz proved to be a key surrogate for Trump, criticizing the Biden-Harris foreign policy record.
I take full responsibility. I built the group.
Waltz has been a a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees in the House and a prominent voice of opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the military and its academies, Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
Earlier, Waltz also served as defense policy director in the Pentagon under Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates in the George Bush Administration. He also worked in the White House as counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, USA Today said.
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