U.N. ambassador nominee Waltz downplays 'Signalgate' controversy
July 15 (UPI) -- U.N. ambassador nominee Mike Waltz denied any sensitive information was shared during a controversial mobile app chat in March while undergoing a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday.
The hearing was the first Congressional appearance by Waltz since his controversial participation in a Signal app chat that inadvertently included a journalist while discussing a pending military operation in March against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Waltz was the Trump administration's national security adviser when the chat occurred, but no mention of the Signal chat occurred until past the hearing's first hour.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., raised using the Signal app to discuss classified matters, which since has been dubbed "Signalgate."
Waltz said no classified information was shared during the discussion that accidentally included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
"That engagement was driven by and recommended by the CyberSecurity Infrastructure Security Agency [and] by the Biden administration," Waltz said, as reported by ABC News.
Waltz said Signal is an encrypted app that was authorized by the CSISA and recommended by the Biden administration.
"We followed the recommendation," Waltz said. "But there was not classified information shared."
Coons responded by saying he had hoped Waltz would express "some sense of regret" over the matter that he said included "very sensitive, timely information about a military strike on a commercially available app."
Waltz told Coons they have a "fundamental disagreement" because no classified information was shared during the Signal chat.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the Defense Department's inspector general and the Air Force have separate investigations ongoing in the matter and have not drawn any conclusions.
"There are two investigations going on at the Pentagon precisely to determine in an objective and independent way whether classified information was shared," Kaine said.
Waltz declined to comment because the investigations are ongoing.
The U.N. ambassadorship is the last vacancy to be filled by the Trump administration, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called Waltz one of the nation's "most well-qualified" U.N. ambassador nominees when introducing him to the committee members, CBS News reported.
Lee said Waltz is skilled at negotiations and has a lot of policy experience to guide him while dealing with the United Nations and representatives of its member nations.
"With Waltz at the helm, the U.N. will have what I regard as what could and should be its last chance to demonstrate its actual value to the United States," Lee told the committee.
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President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One on Tuesday. Trump will announce $70 billion in artificial intelligence and energy investments in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the latest push from the White House to speed up development of the emerging technology. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo
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