On Friday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched a scathing critique of President Donald Trump and his administration regarding their mishandling of sensitive military information. This criticism came after the embarrassing leak of U.S. military attack plans, which were unintentionally shared with a journalist through a Signal app text thread that included top officials. In her opinion piece for the New York Times, Clinton expressed her disbelief over the incident, stating, "It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it's the stupidity."
Clinton articulated her concerns about the administration's lack of regard for classified information and federal record retention laws. She remarked, "We're all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don't actually care about protecting classified information." Clinton emphasized that the real issue lies in the jeopardy posed to U.S. troops, as military plans were carelessly shared on a commercial messaging app, ultimately allowing a journalist to access sensitive content. "That's dangerous. And it's just dumb," she wrote.
Clinton, who faced Trump in the contentious 2016 presidential election, labeled the Signal scandal as yet another example of self-inflicted wounds by the Trump administration. She argued that these incidents squander America's strength and threaten national security. Clinton pointed to several alarming actions by the administration, including the firing of federal workers responsible for protecting nuclear weapons and the halting of efforts to combat pandemics. She also criticized what she termed "performative fights over wokeness" involving Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In response to Clinton's essay, White House spokesman Harrison Field issued a statement to CNBC, suggesting that those who "live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." This comment references the longstanding criticism from Trump and his allies regarding Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama. Hegseth himself had previously stated that any security professional who exhibited such reckless behavior would face immediate termination and potential criminal charges.
The controversy surrounding the Signal leak intensified following an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Goldberg disclosed that he was added to a Signal chat group titled "Houthi PC Group" on March 13, 2023, at the request of Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Other members of this group included Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director Scott Ratcliff, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Goldberg reported that on March 15, Hegseth shared plans detailing specific information about weapons packages, targets, and timing for attacks on Houthi forces in Yemen, which were executed shortly after the texts were sent. Despite the uproar in Washington, Trump and his administration downplayed the leak's significance, asserting that the information shared was not classified. However, this has not quelled the demands from some Democratic lawmakers for Hegseth and Waltz to resign or be dismissed from their positions.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) voiced strong concerns, stating, "Our service members and our national security deserve more than Pete Hegseth. He is unqualified for this job. And if he doesn't resign, the president should fire him." Kelly underscored the seriousness of the situation, asserting, "This is the kind of thing that gets people killed, and there has to be accountability for this."
Waltz, while serving as a Florida congressman, had previously tweeted in June 2023, questioning how Clinton could delete 33,000 government emails on a private server while Trump faced legal repercussions for possessing documents he had the authority to declassify.
