The agency routinely relies on the encrypted messaging app, its head John Ratcliffe has said
US government officials are permitted to use the Signal encrypted messaging app for work purposes if decisions made during communications are also recorded through formal channels, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has said.
On Monday, The Atlantic magazine detailed purported confidential conversations among top members of the administration of US President Donald Trump regarding military strategies against Houthi fighters in Yemen.
The author of the article, Jeffrey Goldberg, claimed to have gained access to the information after being added to a chat on Signal called ‘Houthi PC small group’ by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. According to Goldberg, the chat included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other high-ranking officials.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, Ratcliffe acknowledged that he was also a member of the group, in which airstrikes on Yemen were discussed by cabinet members.
“One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director [in late January] was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA as it is for most CIA officers,” he recalled.
According to the CIA chief, the practice of communicating via Signal had already been in place during the previous administration of US President Joe Biden.
“It is permissible to use [Signal] to communicate and coordinate for work purposes. Provided that any decisions that are made are also recorded through formal channels,” Ratcliffe explained, adding that his “staff implemented those processes.”
Gabbard, who had also been questioned, insisted that “there was no classified material that was shared” in the chat.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia insisted during the hearing that the leak was “one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior” by Trump’s team. “If this was the case, the behavior of an intelligence officer, they would be fired,” he insisted.
Politico reported on Tuesday, citing sources in the White House, that roughly a half of the administration thought that Waltz “should not survive” in his post after mistakenly adding a journalist to a government chat.
However, Trump later downplayed the incident, calling it “the only glitch in two months” and asserting that it had “no impact at all” on the military operation. “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he is a good man,” the president said.