Rubio says Signal chat was a big mistake

There is quite a bit to break down over #SignalGate, so I wanted to address each issue on its own, so forgive me if some of this information is being repeated, but I want to make sure the readers who have not seen previous reports are up to date on everything regarding this incident.

While most Trump officials have circled the wagons, at least for now, one, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is taking a bit of a different approach, saying someone in the Trump camp made a “big mistake.”

The leak

While the administration says no war plans were leaked, that is pretty much semantics. I have talked to my military buddies, and why they say these are not technically war plans, they are close enough and never should have been leaked to the public.

For instance, one text string read, “TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”

Another stated, “1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched. MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline). We are currently clean on OPSEC.  Godspeed to our Warriors.”

In other texts, Hegseth specifically mentions the Houthis, so it was clear they were the target here. As I have stated in my other reports, it would have taken any intelligence officer who knew what they were doing about five minutes to piece this all together, so we were very lucky this did not wind up being a complete disaster.

Rubio admits someone made a ‘mistake’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was included in the text string, finally broke his silence on Wednesday regarding the leaked conversation.

Rubio stated, "Obviously, someone made a mistake. Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist. Nothing against journalists. But you ain't supposed to be on that thing."

"I contributed to it twice," he continued. "I identified my point of contact, which is my chief of staff, and then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements had been made, I congratulated the members of the team.”

At first, I could understand how someone could mistakenly add a journalist, but then I had to consider the journalist. This is a far-left publication and from what I could see, nobody else in the thread had commonalities in their name, which now has me thinking that National Security Adviser Tim Waltz has a rat in his camp. It’s pure speculation on my part, but I am starting to think this leak was purposeful.

Pointing the Finger

Initially, Trump stated that it appeared that a Waltz aide accidentally added the journalist to the text group, but his stance changed by the hour. Trump later addressed the leak, stating, “No. There weren’t details and there was nothing in there that was compromised."

“And it had no impact on the attack which was very successful. It was a very, very successful attack and it was an attack that [former President Joe] Biden should’ve done three years ago and he didn’t do it.”

Trump stated that he would not be firing Hegseth or Waltz, saying Hegseth has been doing a great job and that Waltz was a good man doing a good job, and that he would learn from this mistake, but that stance changed as we headed into Thursday.

While Waltz has been pitching conspiracy theories, taking the same approach as Trump’s communication director, the disaster that is Steven Cheung, Trump just threw him under the bus, stating, “I would imagine it had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess I don’t know. I always thought it was Mike.” Trump has to know the public is not buying all these excuses, and it sure sounds to me like Trump is ready to serve up Waltz on a platter if it makes this all go away. Waltz gave up his seat in the House for this post, a decision I am pretty sure he is regretting at this point.