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** Was the Signal Chat Illegal?
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On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, reported that he had been inadvertently added to a Trump administration group chat on Signal by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. In one of the messages later published by the news outlet, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to provide a timeline for U.S. military strikes in Yemen on March 15 -- two hours before the scheduled start of the bombing.

The fallout from this news has gone on all week. Some Democrats said that accidentally including a journalist in the chat wasn’t just a mistake, it was illegal.

Deputy Director Robert Farley looked into those claims, finding that legal experts said a case could be made that the chat on Signal violated a provision of the Espionage Act. But those experts didn’t think any prosecution would be initiated by the Trump administration against one of its own officials.

“This is blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on X on March 24. “Our national security is in the hands of complete amateurs.”

Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a press conference on March 25: “If an American service member texted classified information about an active military operation to an unknown number on an unclassified app, they would be dismissed, investigated and prosecuted.”

One part of the Espionage Act makes it illegal to inadvertently share “through gross negligence” sensitive national security information.

Rob spoke with Kevin Carroll, a lawyer who specializes in national security litigation and previously worked as a CIA officer. Carroll told him that the Signal chat was “100%” a violation of that law.

“It’s absolutely the kind of thing where if Hegseth and others were junior military personnel, they would absolutely be court-martialed,” Carroll said.

But neither he nor another legal expert Rob interviewed thought that charges would be filed against anyone in the Signal chat.

“It would be more likely that a Jim Crow South sheriff would prosecute a murder by the Klan than that [FBI Director] Kash Patel and [U.S. Attorney General] Pam Bondi are going to investigate this,” Carroll said.

For more, read the full story: “Was the Signal Chat Illegal? ([link removed]) ”
HOW WE KNOW
Misinformation has circulated online about a measles outbreak in Texas, including the incorrect idea that it was sparked by a vaccinated person. How do we know those claims are false? As we wrote this week, the Texas health department told us that all of its tested samples -- including the first cases -- have shown that patients are sick with a wild-type measles virus, not a vaccine strain. After many decades and billions of vaccinations, there is also no indication that the weakened vaccine virus has ever spread to others. Read more: “Posts Make Unsupported Claims About Origin of Texas Measles Outbreak ([link removed]) .”
FEATURED FACTS
The Department of Agriculture said the average national wholesale price that retailers paid to procure a dozen graded, loose, white large shell eggs was $3.27 on March 21, down from the high of $8.17 on March 3. But it’s not clear whether prices have gone down much for grocery shoppers; March data on retail prices won't be available until April. In February, average retail prices paid by consumers were still increasing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last month, the nationwide average price for a dozen grade A white eggs was about $5.90 – up from $4.95 in January. Read more: "Q&A on Egg Prices ([link removed]) ."

REPLY ALL

Reader: Is it true the rumor that all Social Security beneficiaries will have to go to a location to verify their identity to receive their monthly check?

FactCheck.org Director Lori Robertson: If you are already receiving Social Security benefits and you don't need to change your direct deposit information, you don't need to do anything. However, if you are applying for retirement or survivor benefits for the first time, or you want to set up or change direct deposit information for any type of benefits, you'll need to either verify your identity online through a "my Social Security ([link removed]) " account or schedule an appointment to go to a field office to do so in person -- starting April 14.

That's the latest from the Social Security Administration, as of March 26 ([link removed]) . Originally, SSA said ([link removed]) the policy would go into effect March 31. You can visit this FAQ page ([link removed]) in case there are further updates.

The agency also backed off an earlier requirement to have people applying for non-retirement benefits -- Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare or Supplemental Security Income -- verify their identity either online or in person only. SSA now says that those applicants "can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office."

And the agency is prepared to make some concessions for people applying for retirement-program benefits. If people "in extreme dire-need situations, such as terminal cases or prisoner pre-release scenarios" can't use the online system, the SSA won't enforce the in-person requirement for identity verification. "SSA is currently developing a process that will require documentation and management approval to bypass the policy in such dire need cases," the March 26 press release says.

SSA has said it is doing away with some phone-based ID verification in an effort to combat fraud. (As we've reported ([link removed]) , the Trump administration has exaggerated the extent of fraud in Social Security.) Advocates have been highly critical ([link removed]) of these latest changes by the agency. They argued ([link removed]) that some beneficiaries couldn't use the online system and that requiring elderly, disabled or rural residents to come to an office in person would create burdens to getting benefits.

Be aware that there are reports ([link removed]) that scammers have taken advantage of this situation and have sent phishing emails asking beneficiaries to click on a link to verify their identity. Such emails, or text messages, are NOT coming from the Social Security Administration.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* Trump’s Baseless Autopen Claim ([link removed]) : Legal experts say there is nothing to President Donald Trump’s claims that several of former President Joe Biden’s pardons are “VOID” because they were signed via autopen.

* RFK Jr. Misleads About Measles Vaccine in Hannity Interview ([link removed]) : In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made several unsupported or misleading claims about the measles vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said is safe and “the most important tool to prevent” the disease. Meanwhile, a measles outbreak in Texas continues to expand.

* Viral Posts Share Phony ‘Leaked’ Audio of Vance Criticizing Musk ([link removed]) : Vice President JD Vance has said White House adviser Elon Musk has made “mistakes” in his work with the Department of Government Efficiency. But social media posts are sharing what experts said is a manipulated audio clip that purports to be Vance making much harsher remarks about Musk. The vice president’s spokesperson called the clip “100% fake.”

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* RFK Jr. hace declaraciones engañosas sobre la vacuna contra el sarampión en una entrevista con Hannity ([link removed]) : En una entrevista con Sean Hannity, de Fox News, el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hizo varias afirmaciones infundadas o engañosas sobre la vacuna contra el sarampión, que los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) han calificado como segura y “la herramienta más importante para prevenir” la enfermedad. Mientras tanto, el brote de sarampión en Texas continúa creciendo.

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