Vance Sends Text at 2:30 a.m. While Officials Attempt to Cover Up Signalgate

JD Vance reached out to his friends in a Signal chat used for coordinating Yemen operations with a late-night request for company, just hours after Atlantic editor Jeff Goldberg disclosed the chats existence. At 2:26 a.m., Vance wrote, This chats kind of dead. Anything going on?

A Pentagon inspector general report released Thursday offers fresh insights into the chat participants actions in the days following March 24, when Goldberg revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had accidentally shared classified details about Trump administration war plans.

Vances early morning message, seemingly casual in tone, contrasts with actions by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared focused on erasing evidence. Screenshots show Bessent reduced the message disappearance timer to eight hours, down from previous settings of one to four weeksalready potentially in violation of federal law.

Other officials also modified their display names in the chat: Secretary of State Marco Rubio changed from MAR to MR, CIA Director John Ratcliffe shortened his name to John, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller altered S M to SM 76. The reasoning behind these changes remains unclear, though they suggest an effort to obscure their identities and messages. A chat screenshot from March 27 indicates a very narrow window for quickly deleting messages, highlighting the officials apparent scramble to cover their tracks.

Author: Caleb Jennings