'Deliberately ignorant' Pam Bondi claim slapped down by MSNBC host
A glib comment by Attorney General Pam Bondi that the use of the Signal messaging service is perfectly satisfactory for high-level conversations between Donald Trump administration officials was dismantled on MSNBC on Saturday morning.
During an interview with Sen. Chris Coons on MSNBC's "The Weekend " former RNC Chair Michael Steele got the Delaware democrats to agree with him the Trump appointee is either lying or has no idea what she is talking about.
During an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Trump's AG claimed, "I think Signal is a very safe way to communicate. I don't think foreign adversaries are able to hack Signal as far as I know and maybe people just have to keep an eye on their contact list a little bit more carefully."
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After sharing the clip, with Steele describing Bondi as someone whose "arrogance in the job is stultifying," he suggested to Coons, "So, senator, is she being deliberately ignorant just for the sake of just sort of playing down this whole thing? Because as the attorney general of the United States, I think she would understand that in fact, our foreign adversaries absolutely know how to dip into, as the former director of the CIA , John Brennan said at this table just a moment or two ago and said, yes, the communication between me and Symone [Sanders Townsend] and Alicia [Menedez] is encrypted when we send it. But at the end points, once we get it on this thing, if the phone is compromised, madam attorney general, they can access that information."
"So no, in the end, Signal is not the best way to play the game, okay? Come on, people, stop playing us for stupid," he added.
"I'm sorry," Coons offered. "Signal and WhatsApp are more secure than just open texting, but they are far from secure enough to handle classified national security information. Anyone who serves in the cabinet, anyone who serves in the congress knows this."
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