Versión del boletín en español aqui.   Dear John, GROUP CHATS  If you followed the news last week, you've no doubt heard about the national security emergency created by our military, intelligence and Executive branch officials who shared classified information over an unsecured channel about America’s plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen.  The mission is ongoing, with the objective of securing shipping lanes to protect global commerce and the free flow of trade into and out of the region. It's too soon to know if this approach will be successful, but even if the US is able to protect trade routes at sea, the tariff wars President Trump is waging with both allies and adversaries mean that prices on goods that flow through the Yemeni region will likely not drop in any meaningful way for American consumers.   But that wasn't the real news of the week. We learned that the Administration officials shared war planning information and communicated with each other about the attack over Signal, a messaging app that the National Security Agency warned government employees not to use in February. And we learned this because the operational security (op sec) of these senior officials was so sloppy that they accidentally invited a journalist into the group chat. In the days since this disastrous breach of national security was exposed, President Trump first said he didn’t know anything about it, then dismissed it as a witch hunt and a hoax, before finally deciding it was probably National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s fault but still characterizing it as a simple mistake. Meanwhile during Senate and House hearings on worldwide threats—hearings that were already scheduled and happen annually— Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel repeatedly lied to Senators and Representatives questioning them—including me--and to the American public too, about the Signal fiasco.  The Administration’s messaging has pivoted again to criticizing anyone who is criticizing the use of Signal for operational planning and telling us to focus on the ends while ignoring the means. Don’t be distracted. We must remember that actions like these not only endanger the lives of our service-members abroad – starting with the pilots who could have been intercepted and shot down --but all of us. One of our greatest security advantages is the intelligence sharing we’ve cultivated with partners across the globe. When we are reckless with information and insulting to our allies, they are less inclined to work with us. And when they can’t trust us to keep their secrets safe, they will stop sharing. It’s obvious that the Administration is making mistakes—careless or calculated—and our adversaries are taking note.  I want to be clear here: Using Signal to plan, discuss and coordinate the Houthi attack was bad, very bad. It was reckless, dangerous, and likely illegal. The Administration knows it.  What’s worse is this is probably not the first or only time they have used Signal for classified information – but it was the first time they got caught.  Lying about it to me and to you is very bad. They know it, and they don’t care. If that alone doesn’t concern you, I’m not sure what will.  I’m not being quiet about this either. I’ve joined my colleagues of the House Armed Services Committee to demand that Chairman Rogers convene hearings, but I don’t expect anything to happen because Congressional Republicans have abdicated all responsibility to President Trump and Elon Musk. And that should concern us all.