Dems have long history of supporting encrypted Signal app ahead of Trump chat leak

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Karoline Leavitt says the White House won’t ‘bend’ in the face of ‘insincere outrage’ over leaked Signal chats

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt fires back at criticism of the leaked Signal chats from government officials.

Democrats stretching back nearly a decade have touted the use of the encrypted messaging app Signal, long before the Trump administration came under the national spotlight for using the app to discuss a plan of attack on terrorists in Yemen. 

"We have all these Signal chats. If you don’t have Signal, get on Signal, okay? Do not trust …. get on Signal," Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett said just Saturday during a speech before a Human Rights Campaign event in Los Angeles. 

Crockett touted the use of Signal in the context of protected chats among colleagues, such as a "Dem women's caucus chat" she belongs to and how Democrat lawmakers trade scuttlebutt from the Hill. 

The encrypted messaging app is now under the spotlight after it was revealed that top national security leaders had been in a Signal group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen, which also included the Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat was made public by a first-hand account of the group chat published by Goldberg in an article Monday. 

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett touted the Signal app in comments over the weekend. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

"The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans," the Monday article was headlined. 

The Trump administration has maintained that no classified information was shared in the chat, doubling down Wednesday that the Atlantic's story was a "hoax" after Goldberg published specific texts from the chat. The messages included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlining that combat aircraft were set to take off and strike drones were ready for the operation, which were accompanied by timestamps. 

The encrypted messaging app is now under the spotlight after it was revealed top national security leaders were in a Signal group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

"So, let’s me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information," Hegseth posted to X Wednesday morning following the follow-up Atlantic article. 

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"Those are some really sh---y war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an 'attack plan' (as he now calls it). Not even close. As I type this, my team and I are traveling the INDOPACOM region, meeting w/ Commanders (the guys who make REAL ‘war plans’) and talking to troops. We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes."

Jeffrey Goldberg speaks on stage during the "Nancy Pelosi on The Art of Power" panel for the Atlantic Festival, September 2024, in Washington. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Atlantic)

The Atlantic told Fox News Digital Wednesday that the outlet did publish "war plans," directing Fox Digital to a screenshot of Hegseth's messages on the strategy to eliminate Houthi rebels. 

"If this information—particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen—had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face," the Atlantic's report stated of Hegseth's messages. 

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The use of Signal, though not in the context of war or military operations, has become increasingly more prevalent within the D.C. Beltway in recent months. 

The app grew in popularity after it was discovered in October 2024 that Chinese-linked hackers were targeting cellphone data in the U.S., including data belonging to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during the campaign, Politico reported Tuesday. 

Years before the Signal leak involving the Trump administration and subsequent outrage from Democrats and other critics, Democrats had repeatedly touted Signal as an additional precautionary measure against potential hacks. 

Democrats had repeatedly touted Signal as an additional precautionary measure against potential hacks. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Back during the 2016 campaign, which pitted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton against Trump, the Democratic National Committee emailed staffers to download Signal as the 2016 DNC email leak heated up that year, according to Vanity Fair at the time. 

"Signal, staffers in the meeting were told, was ‘Snowden-approved.’ A week after the meeting at the campaign headquarters, according to two people who have worked with the D.N.C. and the Clinton campaign, an e-mail was sent out instructing staffers where to download the app and how to use it," Vanity Fair reported. 

In a 2018 article from Politico detailing how the DNC was working to protect against future hacks, the party's chief technology advisor reported he used Signal to communicate with his team. 

HEGSETH FENDS OFF REPORTER'S QUESTIONS ABOUT SIGNAL CHAT LEAK

National security advisor Mike Waltz addressed the Signal text chain leak on "The Ingraham Angle." (Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

"They chat via the encrypted messaging apps Signal and Wickr with cyber experts from the DNC’s sister committees and third-party vendors, discussing suspicious incidents and other information," the 2018 Politico story stated. 

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who called for Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to resign over the Signal chat leak, celebrated and thanked the Senate Sergeant at Arms in 2017 for approving the use of Signal for lawmakers and staff that year. 

"With the transition to default HTTPS for all of the other Senate websites and the recent announcement by your office that the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal is approved for Senate staff use, I am happy to see that you too recognize the important defensive cybersecurity role that encryption can play," Wyden wrote in the 2017 letter.

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden called for Hegseth and national security advisor Mike Waltz to resign over the Signal chat leak. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Other groups, including media outlets and reporters, have touted Signal as a secure method of communication, including the Washington Post and New York Times offering tip lines through the encrypted app. 

While the Loudon County Democrats Facebook page, which represents the Democratic Party in the northern Virginia county, advised in February that "federal workers and active Democratic volunteers would be wise to make use" of the Signal app, which was accompanied by a how-to guide for the app. 

TRUMP ADMIN DECLARES THE ATLANTIC'S SIGNAL ARTICLE A 'HOAX' AFTER IT DROPS 'WAR PLANS' RHETORIC

And House Oversight and Government Reform Democrats posted a tip line connected to Signal where users could report potential wrongdoing related to the second Trump administration. The tip line noted that individuals should "not submit classified information or other information barred from release through this form, by email, or by the Signal app."

Fox News Digital additionally reported Tuesday that Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, used Signal work with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch to connect with the disgraced Steele dossier author. Warner was among Democrat lawmakers who slammed Trump administration officials over the Signal chat during a Senate hearing Wednesday. 

Sen. Mark Warner is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (Reuters)

"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 Tuesday, "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."

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Fox Digital also reported Tuesday that the federal office in charge of ensuring cybersecurity at all levels of the government cited the use of encrypted messaging app Signal as a "best practice" for "highly targeted" government officials. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) outlined in a December 2024 guide for federal employees that encrypted messaging platforms such as Signal better protected officials against foreign enemy hackers amid a Chinese-linked cyber breach. CISA is an office under the Department of Homeland Security's umbrella that is charged with ensuring cybersecurity across all levels of government. 

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Under the Biden administration in 2024, CISA released a "Mobile Communications Best Practice Guidance" for "highly targeted individuals," who were defined as high-ranking government officials or politicians who are "likely to possess information of interest to these threat actors." The document specifically addressed high-targeted politicos and officials, though it noted the guide was "applicable to all audiences." 

BIDEN-ERA GUIDANCE ENCOURAGED USE OF SIGNAL APP BY HIGHLY TARGETED GOVT OFFICIALS: 'BEST PRACTICE'

"Adopt a free messaging application for secure communications that guarantees end-to-end encryption, such as Signal or similar apps," the guidance states. "CISA recommends an end-to-end encrypted messaging app that is compatible with both iPhone and Android operating systems, allowing for text message interoperability across platforms. Such apps may also offer clients for MacOS, Windows, and Linux, and sometimes the web. These apps typically support one-on-one text chats, group chats with up to 1,000 participants, and encrypted voice and video calls. Additionally, they may include features like disappearing messages and images, which can enhance privacy." 

A prior Department of Defense memo issued in 2023 also detailed that while Signal was approved for some use by government officials, they could not use the platform to "access, transmit, process non-public DoD information."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Signal is an "approved app" for government employees. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Wednesday's press briefing that Signal is an "approved app" for government employees, citing that the "CIA has it loaded onto government phones because it is the most secure and efficient way to communicate."

CIA Director John Ratcliffe appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday morning for an annual hearing on the global threats facing the U.S., and highlighted that Signal was already downloaded on his government devices when he was sworn-in as the CIA chief in January. 

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"One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA, as it is for most CIA officers, one of the things that I was briefed on very early, Senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use," he said.