Top Dem used same app used in Atlantic scandal to set up contact with Steele dossier author

FIRST ON FOX: Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, used an encrypted messaging app to work with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch to connect with the disgraced Steele dossier author. It's the same app Warner bashed top Trump administration officials for using to discuss plans for a strike on the Houthis in Yemen.

Somehow, Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, had been inadvertently added to the Trump administration's chat. Afterward, Goldberg reported his experience in an article, "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans."

The debacle quickly drew criticism over the non-secure nature of the conversation about national security matters. 

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However, the app was also used by vocal critic Warner to reach former British spy Christopher Steele, Fox reported in 2017.

"Signal worked great for Senator Warner when he wanted to meet with the disgraced liar Christopher Steele. It’s a little surprising Warner is pretending to be so upset about it today," a Senate GOP leadership aide told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Warner spokesperson Rachel Cohen told Fox News Digital, "The fact that Fox News is in possession of these messages demonstrates exactly why Signal shouldn’t be used to discuss classified national security material like war plans."

Steele infamously compiled a dossier of unverified information about Trump that was ultimately used by FBI and Justice Department officials during the 2016 presidential campaign to get a warrant to conduct surveillance of former Trump advisor Carter Page. However, the dossier was found to be funded through a law firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and was revealed to largely contain uncorroborated and salacious rumors.

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Warner began corresponding on Signal with lobbyist Adam Waldman in March 2017, Fox News reported exclusively at the time. 

Waldman texted Warner, writing, "Chris Steele asked me to call you."

"Will call tomorrow be careful," Warner replied. 

The two had some difficulty connecting by phone, according to the messages. 

Later in the month, the senator pushed Waldman for direct access to Steele. 

"Can you talk tomorrow want to get with ur English friend," Warner said in one message. 

"I spoke to him yesterday," Waldman had replied. 

However, when Warner asked for an update on contact with Steele in April, the lobbyist said, "Yes seems to have cold feet from the leaks. Said he wanted a bipartisan letter followed by written questions."

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During an annual threat assessment of the U.S. intelligence community hearing Tuesday, the vice chairman opened by addressing the recent scandal in which it was revealed 18 people, including National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, were in a group chat on Signal with Goldberg.

In the chat, the officials talked about an upcoming attack on the Houthis, a terrorist group in Yemen. Goldberg's article later exposed this glaring national security vulnerability.

"Two of our witnesses here today were members of a group chat that discussed highly sensitive and likely classified information that supposedly even included weapons packages, targets and timing and included the name of an active CIA agent," Warner said, referring to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. 

"It's also just mind-boggling to me that all of these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered to even check security hygiene 101," the senator remarked. 

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"I think this is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information, that this is not a one-off or a first-time error," he added, criticizing the administration. 

Despite the "mistake," as President Trump called the Signal group chat with Goldberg, Waltz is "not getting fired," he told Fox News.

He added that "nothing important" was in the chat. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also posted on X about the debacle, slamming Goldberg and "his sensationalist spin."

"No ‘war plans’ were discussed," she said, quoting the title of his article. "No classified material was sent to the thread.

"As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread. Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump."