NEWS: Sens. Schiff, Kim, Gallego, Slotkin in Letter to White House Demand Details on Trump Administration’s Use of Unclassified Commercial Messaging Apps

Letter Follows Reporting that National Security Waltz and His Team Set Up At Least Twenty Chats on Signal and Used Gmail
Washington, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), sent aletterto White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles requesting new information to determine the full scope of and damage to national security by the repeated use of unclassified messaging applications, like Signal and Gmail, by senior White House officials and members of President Trump’s cabinet.
The Senators, all of whom have deep experience in defense, intelligence, and diplomacy, emphasized the severe national security consequences of what appears to be an extensive pattern and practice of using unsecured commercial apps for sensitive national security communications. Recentreportingindicates that there are at least 20 such chats.
“New reporting indicates that the “Houthi PC small group” chat established by Mr. Waltz was not an isolated incident. According to recent reporting, Mr. Waltz and his team “regularly set up chats on Signal to coordinate official work on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, according to four people who have been personally added to Signal chats.” This may have included “at least 20” such chats, which participants in the chat say included “instances of sensitive information being discussed.” As one alleged participant in at least some of the group chats commented: “Waltz built the entire NSC communications process on Signal,”’wrote the Senators.
“Mr. Waltz’ first message to the group on March 11, 2025, referenced an earlier meeting in the “Sit Room” (White House Situation Room), a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) equipped to handle the nation’s most sensitive information and the appropriate venue for communicating and coordinating on matters of national security. None of the at least 18 participants in the group chat interjected when others provided clearly classified or operationally sensitive information, or requested that they be removed at any time during the conversation, even though Mr. Waltz adjusted the settings at the beginning of the chat to auto-delete all of group’s messages after a week and then changed the auto-delete setting to 4 weeks shortly after Defense Secretary Hegseth provided specific classified details on the impending military strikes,”the Senators continued.
The Senators demanded specific details on the full scope of national security-related communications using such commercial messaging applications and that the White House take all steps to preserve and recover records, as required by federal law.
Read the full text of the letterhereand below.
Dear Ms. Wiles,
As Senators with deep experience in defense, intelligence, and diplomacy, we are writing to express grave concern and request information necessary to determine the full scope of and damage caused by the use of unclassified commercial applications, like Signal and Gmail, by senior White House officials and members of the President’s Cabinet to conduct classified and sensitive national security activity and communications.
In a grave breach of national security, senior White House officials and members of the President’s Cabinet, including National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, appear to have engaged in an extensive pattern and practice of using unsecure commercial messaging applications to undertake sensitive national security deliberations and discussions, in violation of federal criminal laws and other requirements designed to safeguard classified and other sensitive national security information and preserve presidential and federal records.
New reporting indicates that the “Houthi PC small group” chat established by Mr. Waltz was not an isolated incident. According to recent reporting, Mr. Waltz and his team “regularly set up chats on Signal to coordinate official work on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, according to four people who have been personally added to Signal chats.” This may have included “at least 20” such chats, which participants in the chat say included “instances of sensitive information being discussed.” As one alleged participant in at least some of the group chats commented: “Waltz built the entire NSC communications process on Signal.”
This follows earlier reporting that Mr. Waltz “created and hosted multiple other sensitive national security conversations on Signal with cabinet members, including separate threads on how to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine as well as military operations.” Another recent report indicates that one or more messaging chats initiated by Mr. Waltz involved Somalia. This same report alleges, moreover, that Mr. Waltz used his personal email account to conduct government business, while a senior aide to Mr. Waltz used the same “commercial email service for highly technical conversations with colleagues at other government agencies involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems related to an ongoing conflict […].
These revelations are shocking, but not surprising, in light of the Signal group chat that Mr. Waltz established ahead of military attacks in Yemen. When Mr. Waltz initiated the messaging group on March 11, 2025, none of the invited participants, including you, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, expressed surprise, confusion, or unease at having been added to such a group on a commercially-available messaging application that is downloaded for use on unclassified electronic devices.
Mr. Waltz’ first message to the group on March 11, 2025, referenced an earlier meeting in the “Sit Room” (White House Situation Room), a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) equipped to handle the nation’s most sensitive information and the appropriate venue for communicating and coordinating on matters of national security. None of the at least 18 participants in the group chat interjected when others provided clearly classified or operationally sensitive information, or requested that they be removed at any time during the conversation, even though Mr. Waltz adjusted the settings at the beginning of the chat to auto-delete all of group’s messages after a week and then changed the auto-delete setting to 4 weeks shortly after Defense Secretary Hegseth provided specific classified details on the impending military strikes.
The destruction of presidential or federal records is illegal. To ensure that the Senate can fulfill its constitutionally mandated oversight duties, and to inform future remedial legislation, we seek and expect your full cooperation by Thursday, April 10, 2025, with the initial requests below.
###