Sat Jun 21 22:20:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a summarized news article based on the provided text:

**Judge Orders Trump-Era Officials to Preserve Signal Messages, Stops Short of Recovery**

**Washington, D.C.** – A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction requiring former Trump administration national security officials, including former Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, to preserve any remaining messages exchanged on the encrypted messaging app Signal. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the government watchdog group American Oversight, which alleges that the officials violated federal records laws by discussing official business, including military operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen, on the platform with an auto-delete function.

While Judge James Boasberg acknowledged the potential for imminent destruction of records, he declined to order the government to recover messages that may have already been deleted. He noted that American Oversight had not proven that the existing recordkeeping programs of the relevant agencies were inadequate, nor demonstrated that the court could compel the recovery of already-deleted messages.

The case originated after journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat used by officials. Goldberg’s reporting on the chat, including alleged details shared by Hegseth about targets and attack sequences, prompted concerns about potential violations of security protocols and the sharing of classified information.

American Oversight expressed satisfaction with the partial victory and vowed further legal action if officials do not comply with the preservation order. The organization’s Executive Director, Chioma Chukwu, emphasized the importance of preserving government records for public accountability.

Hegseth and the White House have previously denied that any classified information was shared via the Signal chat.

The lawsuit names several high-ranking former officials as defendants, including former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, former CIA Director John Ratcliffe, former Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and former Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Read More