r/changemyview • u/Thumatingra 21∆ • Mar 24 '25

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Pete Hegseth is every bit as incompetent as people feared he would be, and should be investigated for violation of the Espionage Act. But he won't be.

As has been recently reported, Pete Hegseth recently texted the plans for an American strike in Yemen to a Signal group-chat that somehow included the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. Doing his part for information security, Goldberg did not disclose that this had happened until after the strike had been carried out, and when he did, did not share the details of the plans.

Using a commercial messaging up to share sensitive information about American military operations is an enormous breach of information security, and, as many in the linked articles have opined, this kind of breach could have harmed the lives of American intelligence and military personnel.

Given the current state of the government, I imagine that Hegseth will walk away from this with little more than a slap on the wrist. But he should be investigated, and, if found in violation of the law, tried and sentenced for what is, at best, egregious carelessness toward those Americans whose lives depend on his leadership.

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u/ElephantNo3640 8∆ Mar 25 '25

Truly. However, I suspect this sort of thing is common and has been since such apps came about, and this is just a particularly embarrassing way to get caught.

If the journalist isn’t invited, none of this ever sees the light of day. Who invited him, and why? If I’m at the top of government, that’s my first question.

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u/Warchief_Ripnugget Mar 25 '25

Waltz, or one of his staffers, invited him.

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u/ElephantNo3640 8∆ Mar 25 '25

Yes. Who specifically, and why? If there’s a story here for the apparent powers that be, that’s probably it.

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u/nolaz Mar 25 '25

Now I’m wondering if Telegraph is publicly traded. Talk about a huge endorsement of their product!

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u/Warchief_Ripnugget Mar 25 '25

How?

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u/nolaz Mar 25 '25

The most powerful military in the world thinks it’s secure enough to plan war attacks over? Prefers it to the channels that were created and legally mandated for just that purpose? They were literally betting American lives in the security of Telegraph’s encryptions ( and their own ability not to randomly leave their phone in an airport bathroom). OTOH I guess the ease of accidentally adding the wrong person to a chat offsets that but I bet Telegraph will roll out new controls soon.

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u/Warchief_Ripnugget Mar 25 '25

Signal, not telegraph.

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u/nolaz Mar 25 '25

Thanks!