WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Lazy Susan: Special Episode- Signalgate

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

Lewis and Paden explain the Signalgate controversy and the reactions from inside and outside the cabinet.

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, and this is The Lazy Susan. I'm Lewis Thin. On The Lazy Susan, we highlight happenings in the cabinet on a weekly basis. In addition to our regular show, today we'll be bringing you this special episode, in which we look into the story that took the lion's share of media attention this week. They call it Signalgate, and it's a story that includes multiple levels of the presidential cabinet. So here to bring us up to speed is my co-host, Peyton Hughes. Well, Payton, what's up with Signalgate?

Hey, Lewis. Well, on March 11th, the national security advisor to President Trump, Michael Waltz, added a number of high-level government officials to a group chat on the encrypted public messaging app, Signal. The group chat included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and many others. But that wasn't all. Waltz also accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg and never realized his mistake. And Jeffrey Goldberg, as I've come to understand it, is a high-up reporter and columnist from the Atlantic.

That's right. Obviously, Goldberg wasn't supposed to be in that group, but he was. And what's more, the chat then began to discuss impending military operations against the Houthi Muslims. The Houthis being an Islamic extremist group operating out of Yemen. Indeed. And one the United States has experience in fighting. The reason for recent action was in response to Houthi aggression in the Arabian Sea. Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on all manner of ships off of Yemen's coast. This reduced cargo traffic through the Suez Canal by 75%. And further, it increased travel time for cargo ships by up to 14 days. That's a big deal for American allies in Europe, because 40% of the continent's imports come through that canal.

Okay, so why does all this matter? Well, the signal discussion addressed military strategy in addition to some specific human assets and targets which are normally classified. So naturally, the fact that an Atlantic reporter, a civilian, was in military discussions that are generally classified, raised immediate concern about how the administration is handling that information. The administration holds the conversation was not a classified one, specifically Secretary Hegsef. So, while still an embarrassing mistake for Mr. Walts, they'd argue this isn't reflective. of a deeper problem. And how about the reaction from elsewhere? Goldberg took the story to press, posting the full details of the military strategy in Yemen as discussed in the signal chat.

Naturally, everyone wanted to know how the Atlantic came to know specifics of United States military operations and strategy. So the response was immediate and congressional hearings have since ensued. For Trump in the press, this follows a previous episode between his presidential terms in which he showed classified military strategy documents to a reporter at a as Marilago estate, a mistake which saw his home controversially rated by the FBI under the Biden administration. For folks like Secretary Hegeseth and Director Gabbard, the general consensus is that they've shown themselves to be what they've always claimed to be, outsiders. Republicans will continue to insist for the better, Democrats will suggest for the worse.

The Trump cabinet has made transparency one of its chief goals, but the media firestorm in congressional hearings which accompanied this particular episode would suggest that it's not always a good thing, or even an intentional thing, but we will keep an eye on the developments out of Congress. Thanks for catching us up, Peyton. You're welcome. That'll do it for this special episode of The Lazy Susan. For Peyton Hughes, I'm Lewis Thur. We'll see you next to it.