A federal judge has ordered Trump administration officials to preserve communications sent through the encrypted messaging app Signal regarding military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by American Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog group, alleging violations of the Federal Records Act of 1950.
D.C. Chief Judge James Boasberg issued the order Thursday morning, instructing the officials involved to retain messages exchanged between March 11 and March 15, 2025. During the 20-minute court hearing, Boasberg ordered a temporary restraining order as a short-term solution to both the administration and American Oversight’s concerns.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a D.C. federal court, names several high-profile figures, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State and Acting Archivist Marco Rubio.
American Oversight’s lawsuit, argues that these officials used Signal, an unclassified commercial app, to discuss sensitive military plans, including details about the March 15 strikes on Houthi targets.
The controversy erupted when The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, unexpectedly received messages from the group chat with 18 government officials that revealed internal discussions about the details of military operations— just two hours before the first bombs exploded.
“Thursday’s ruling marks an important step toward accountability,” American Oversight stated. The nonprofit had urged the federal courts that the messages should be released to the public to ensure better record-keeping practices among Trump administration officials.
The Trump administration has pushed back against allegations of wrongdoing. Hegseth denied that any classified details were shared in the messages, stating, “Nobody was texting war plans.”
However, CNN, citing anonymous government officials familiar with the matter, reported that the messages contained classified details, contradicting what the administration claims.
In his ruling, Boasberg directed the administration to outline by Monday of next week the specific steps taken to preserve these messages.
