WASHINGTON – The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and ranking members wrote to Department of Defense inspectors on Thursday asking independent observers to begin an investigation into the use of senior officials of the signal chat app to discuss Yemen’s bombing plans.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Jack Reid wrote that a group chat that mistakenly included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg justified further investigation.

“The chat was allegedly included classification information about sensitive military operations in Yemen,” the two wrote. One page letter. “If so, this report raises questions about the use of unclassified networks, discusses sensitive and classified information, as well as shares such information with people who do not have adequate clearance and do not need to know.”

They asked inspectors to include “assessing DOD classification and declassification policies and processes and whether these policies and processes were complied with.”

The senator called on the Attorney General to determine whether “the policies of the White House, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Reporting Community, and other sectors and agencies represented by the National Security Council on this subject are different.”

The letter requires inspectors to make recommendations to address issues that may be identified by the investigation.

SignalGate began the Atlantic on Monday, as it became known Published Excerpts from the group chat include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tarsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and more.

President Donald Trump and many White House officials have repeatedly tried to downplay the use of commercial communications apps to discuss plans to bomb the Hooty rebels in Yemen.

Hegseth publicly says that the information classified in group chats is not shared, but Wicker He told reporters On Wednesday, “The published information seems to me recently of a very sensitive nature, so based on my knowledge, I would have wanted to classify it.”

A spokesman for the Department of Defense Inspector said the office “We received a request yesterday and are reviewing the letter. There are no further comments at this time.”

Last updated at 1:06pm, March 27, 2025