Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger criticized top Trump administration officials for discussing military plans in a messaging app and accidentally letting a journalist into the group. Kinzinger specifically pointed out Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “going along” with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to use a chat app to share classified information.
“This is legit the most incredible and reckless thing I’ve ever seen. And why so many from Rubio to Waltz went along with it. Amateur hour,” Kinzinger wrote in a post on X.
Kinzinger, who broke away from the Republican Party after the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, has been a strong critic of his former party and served on the committee that investigated the insurrection. He left office in 2023.
Democrats also quickly condemned the officials after The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed how he was invited to the messaging group and confirmed its authenticity. On March 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent detailed messages about military plans, which were put into action just hours later. Goldberg then left the group and contacted officials to figure out how he had been included.
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, called the situation “FUBAR” on X and demanded immediate hearings. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) also criticized the administration’s foreign policy, calling the situation “amateur hour.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the “incompetence of the Trump administration is putting us at risk at home and abroad.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made a joke, saying Hegseth was “texting out war plans like invites to a frat party.”
Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary under President Obama, told CNN that the person who created the group on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, should be fired. “Somebody on the Atlantic got the most sensitive emails you can imagine at the federal level. That is a serious blunder. It has to be investigated, and somebody, frankly, needs to get fired,” Panetta added.
