The chat was set to auto-delete after a period of time so, inevitably…
In PA, Democrats just flipped a state house seat that the GOP had held for 48 years.
Correction: it’s a state senate seat
Lagniappe: that constituency voted for Trump +15 just four months ago.
The 2017/18 pattern is repeating, as Dems hold vulnerable seats and take seats away from the other side. In PA they now have a majority in the state house and are 2 seats away from taking the state senate in 2026.
If we’re still here in 2026, the midterms are going to be a bloodbath on a scale heretofore unimaginable.
According to Seth Moulton, the very real debate happening in intelligence circles is whether Hegseth was drunk or is just that stupid. Of course, “both” is an entirely plausible answer.
Imagine being US military personnel going on a dangerous mission and having the very real fear that your boss told the enemy you’re coming like a lobotomized Crash Davis.
The Atlantic has published the full text exchange, including Hegseth writing:
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),” Hegseth wrote in the chat. “1345: Trigger Based F-18 Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME—also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”
The current WH claim is that this does not constitute “war plans”.
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Tulsi Gabbard “did not recall” if any weapons systems were mentioned in the above message that she’d read 10 days prior. John Ratcliff said that the above details were not included in the thread.
Even in the ridiculously unjust world we had before January, everyone on this thread would’ve resigned or been fired by now.
So much scandal was packed into that one Trump administration fuckup that it’s hard to take it all in. But there’s a part of it that Europe is focusing on, as you might expect.
Pretty sure that, if this wasn’t true before it is now: the US is no longer the leader of the free world.
Awesome.
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He meant they were clear on OPSEC. They are always clear on OPSEC. They are so always clear on OPSEC that they are everclear.
I’ll get me coat.
This one doesn’t need Pete-splainin’, but he nails it anyway.
Waltz has argued that Goldberg somehow hacked his way into the chat; as if that somehow absolves them of discussing top secret war plans over a commercial messaging app that is so insecure that a journalist can hack it.
Then there’s this:
This is performing two functions:
- It confirms that Waltz invited Goldberg into the chat, he didn’t hack his way in; and
- It confirms that the chat was set to auto-delete in a week, which is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
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Surgical strike. They got the one guy, and only had to kill everyone in a building to do it.
I’m sure they’ll call it “collateral damage”. I guess the adage ‘when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail’ comes into play.
Couch Boy’s “Excellent” is pretty chilling and says a lot about him.
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Truth.
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So if a journalist could do that, shouldn’t we assume that our enemies were reading it all along?
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At some point they will stop punching themselves in the balls over this, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be any time soon.
Fun Fact: the timing of Steve Witkoff’s acceptance of his invitation to the chat thread means that, not only was he in Moscow, he was quite likely to have been actually inside the Kremlin.
I wonder if they let him use the wifi…?
In other sad Trump grifting, illegally using public office for private gain news…Trump is selling naming rights/sponsorships/advertising for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. As little as $75,000 can get your corporate logo plastered at the 147-year-old traditional children’s event. $200,000 will get you the high-roller package.
Donald Trump Makes Major Change to Longtime White House Tradition
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