If you were paying attention to the news yesterday, you probably heard about Jeffrey Goldberg being accidentally added to a national security Signal chat that included Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The story is continuing to churn on Tuesday morning, with the mainstream press calling for “accountability.”

If you aren’t acquainted with Goldberg, he is the editor of The Atlantic, a far-left publication that is infamous for its numerous embellishments over the years (as well as producing some of the most insane pro-Biden headlines ever published). As a “journalist,” he is perhaps most known during the Trump era for inventing the “suckers and losers” hoax. That should lead one to first question whether Goldberg is lying about this latest story. 

According to the White House, the chat, which was started to discuss then-incoming attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, did exist. Goldberg was inadvertently added to it by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz — or someone on his behalf. President Donald Trump has since given Waltz a vote of confidence, saying that he has “learned a lesson.” 

What’s not clear is whether any actual “war plans” or other classified information were disclosed, which is the heart of Goldberg’s contention. The White House is disputing his claim, and given his background, no one should be taking his word for it.

Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin. Here are the facts about his latest story:

1. No “war plans” were discussed.

2. No classified material was sent to the thread.

3. The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different…

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 25, 2025

With that said, it was no doubt an unforced error to add Goldberg to the chat. The contact name used was “JG,” with Waltz (or his staffer) possibly mistaking it for administration official Given how much the Trump administration has been targeted over the years with leaks, all of us would be forgiven for believing that Goldberg’s being a saved contact for any administration official is problematic. I’m not suggesting that Waltz did anything purposeful here. I truly believe this was an accident, but I am suggesting that he has no business ever being in contact with someone like Jeffrey Goldberg.

In short, I think this was a preventable mistake that deserves an explanation, but I also think many calling for “accountability” are doing so in bad faith. For example, you’ve got people saying there should be resignations and impeachments over this.

To be so stupid to not understand that using Signal to discuss combat ops, much less ANY government business at all, is not a mistake. It’s an impeachable mistake. But Trump owns the Congress and federal LEOs, so we’ll kick and scream and this too likely will just…go away.

— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) March 24, 2025

4/ Can’t emphasize enough that if this happens under a Demoratic president, it is a scandal of the first order that dominates the news cycle for the foreseeable future, leads to intense congressional hearings, and causes multiple resignations and firings.

— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) March 24, 2025

Asked if he thinks someone should be fired over the national security breach, Pete Buttigieg says, “Absolutely. I mean, if I made a mistake like this as lieutenant, I would be probably not just fired, but probably indicted and tried and maybe in prison.” pic.twitter.com/TEn5NPwh37

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 25, 2025

The idea that this would have been a major scandal under Joe Biden is laughable. That’s the kind of revisionist history that should be treated with scorn. Did any of the people above call for a single resignation over 13 American service members being murdered due to rank incompetency within the Biden administration during the Afghanistan withdrawal? The answer is no, they didn’t, and for anyone on the left to now pretend they care about accountability is ludicrous. 

In short, yes, this was a mistake that needs to be owned and rectified (and I think normal Americans will reward such candor). But to pretend this is a monumental scandal that somehow rises above anything that occurred under Joe Biden is gaslighting of the highest order. No one who stood idly by or excused the former administration’s litany of damaging actions has any credibility to speak about accountability in this context. 

I’m confident this won’t happen again and that lessons were actually learned. In the meantime, any Trump official who has Jeffrey Goldberg (or any left-wing journalist) saved in their contacts needs to be hitting the delete button.