A federal judge has mandated that White House officials involved in a group chat concerning military actions in Yemen retain the messages, following a shocking report indicating they may have disseminated classified information.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg instructed members of President Donald Trump’s national security team to maintain any messages sent or received via the Signal messaging app from March 11 to March 15.
This directive originates from a lawsuit initiated by American Oversight, which claims that Trump officials’ use of Signal breached federal record-keeping laws.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated, “The Trump Administration has and will continue to comply with all applicable record-keeping laws.”
The Atlantic, which first disclosed the existence of the chat group, highlighted that messages within the chat were programmed to disappear after a specified duration, raising concerns that these communications might be permanently lost.
During the hearing, Judge Boasberg clarified that the order was meant to prevent the loss of any messages and did not imply any misconduct.
On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic reported that he was inadvertently included in a Signal group chat featuring accounts that seemed to belong to key Trump administration officials, such as Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
In the Signal chat, participants discussed an imminent operation against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, with an account claiming to represent Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing detailed plans for an attack scheduled for March 15.
The National Security Council later verified the authenticity of the chat.
American Oversight’s lawsuit identifies several key participants in the chat: Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The suit also mentioned the National Archives and Records Administration, which oversees the preservation of governmental documents.
American Oversight contends that the Signal chat falls under the purview of the Federal Records Act.
The lawsuit claims that utilizing a “private, encrypted, auto-deleting platform for official communications” without transferring the messages to an official governmental system contravened that law.
“Without legal intervention, they – and many similar communications – will be automatically lost or destroyed forever,” the lawsuit asserts.
Hegseth and other officials within the administration maintain that no sensitive information was disclosed. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Wednesday that “no war plans” were discussed in the chat, emphasizing that the information shared should be regarded as “sensitive policy discussions.”
During a hearing on Thursday afternoon, Judge Boasberg instructed the officials named in the lawsuit to retain the Signal messages from March 11 to March 15.
He later issued a written order, indicating that his ruling would remain in effect until April 10, “provided that the Defendants’ actions are adequate to the Court.”
“This order represents a significant move towards accountability,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, stated to the BBC. “We appreciate the judge’s ruling to prevent any further destruction of these vital records.”
Judge Boasberg is also overseeing a case challenging the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador earlier this month.
This case led to allegations that the Trump administration breached the judge’s order to promptly return the immigrants to U.S. soil and reverse flight arrangements if required. Judge Boasberg had initially ordered their return verbally, followed by a written order.
The White House contended that it did not violate Judge Boasberg’s order, and it has escalated its criticisms of the judge. President Donald Trump suggested that the judge should face impeachment, leading to an unusual rebuttal from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.
Addressing the current situation during Thursday’s hearing regarding the Signal chat, Judge Boasberg mentioned that he had been randomly assigned the new Signal case.
After instructing the Trump officials to maintain their Signal communications, Judge Boasberg assured all parties that his verbal order would be formally documented in writing.
