Former Obama DOJ official calls for FBI investigation into war plans text chat

Former Obama Justice Department official Matthew Miller called for an FBI investigation after The Atlantic’s bombshell report that its editor was included in a group chat of Trump administration officials discussing details of a U.S. plan to bomb targets in Yemen.

“You don’t even have to do the 'what about her emails' thing. In any other admin, R or D, there would be an immediate FBI investigation, and there should be here as well,” Miller wrote on X. He served as Office of Public Affairs director at the Obama DOJ, and then as State Department spokesperson during the Biden administration. 

According to The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, senior Trump administration officials used a Signal group chat to discuss strikes against the Houthi militant group in Yemen earlier this month, apparently unaware that the journalist had been added to the thread.

Goldberg was reportedly invited to the group by national security adviser Mike Waltz, and then Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent information on weapons, targets and timing. Vice President Vance and other top officials were also in the chat, according to the magazine.

A spokesman for the National Security Council confirmed the message chain was authentic, and said the administration was “reviewing how an inadvertent number was added.” 

The incident has drawn comparisons to controversy around former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official business, for which President Trump has long called to “lock her up.” 

Democrats have piled on to slam Hegseth for the incident.

"Every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime – even if accidentally – that would normally involve a jail sentence. We can’t trust anyone in this dangerous administration to keep Americans safe," Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) wrote on X.