Will you sign the petition to demand an investigation into Pete Hegseth and senior Trump officials for putting our nation's security at risk?
Dear MoveOn member,
Just days ago, the news broke that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was included in a group chat with top-ranking Trump administration officials, where he then received messages discussing the upcoming military strikes in Yemen.1
The secretary of defense compromised sensitive information, discussing military operations and plans over an unofficial channel, including sending it to an accidental recipient. And while it might seem like a bad joke, unfortunately the administration later confirmed the incident and addressed it as an "inadvertent oversight."2
We cannot have "oversights" like this when it comes to matters of national security. This speaks to recklessness, disregard for security, potential law-breaking concerning classified communications, and a callousness that demands immediate investigation. Sign the petition if you agree.
Pete Hegseth, Trump's secretary of defense, updated the chat with details around the strikes in Yemen, including weapons, targets, and timing. Anywhere else in the military, an offense like this would warrant some sort of accountability that includes firing, loss of security clearances, or even criminal charges. The same standards must apply to senior military leaders and officials.
This isn't a partisan issue. Even Republican Representative Don Bacon (NE-02), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said that the reports are concerning.3
Congress must take action to quickly address this and ensure this never happens again by scheduling a congressional hearing.
It's not only dangerous to the American public that this happened, but the fact that a reporter was inadvertently given access to these current-day plans in real time shows that Pete Hegseth was the wrong choice by far for a high-ranking position in Trump's administration, especially one of the most prominent members of Trump's Cabinet who's in charge of our national security.
How many more unofficial group chats is our defense secretary engaged in? With whom? What sensitive data is he sharing over unofficial channels? And who else is he accidentally or intentionally sharing classified information and U.S. secrets with? Imagine all the text exchanges that could compromise national security that we haven't learned about yet.
Pete Hegseth was just a prominent Fox News host when Trump nominated him for his Cabinet.4 The risk of having Hegseth and other officials leak information like this just exemplifies why so many people in our movement were concerned about him, and it raises further concern about the potential mishandling of classified information regarding sensitive confidential U.S. plans in the future.
When President Donald Trump was asked about the report on Monday afternoon he said, "I don’t know anything about it," and he added, "I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic.”5
Trump won't take actual matters of national security seriously, but we do.
Sign the petition if you agree there must be a congressional hearing or investigation to hold Hegseth and officials in Trump's administration accountable, and then pass it along to your friends.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nakia, Alyssa, Seth, Amanda R., and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans," March 24, 2025, The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/
2. Ibid.
3. "'Amateur hour': Washington aghast at Trump administration’s war plan group chat," Politico, March 24, 2025
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/24/hegseth-national-security-group-chat-atlantic-reaction-00244983
4. "Trump picks Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense," CNN, November 13, 2024
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/pete-hegseth-secretary-of-defense/index.html
5. "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans," March 24, 2025, The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/
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