(Pool via AP)
National Review took the Trump administration to task over its handling of the Signal leak scandal that has dominated headlines this week, characterizing it as “self-serving, Clintonian, and dishonest” in a withering editorial headlined “On Signal Leak, Take the L.”
“Damage control is not supposed to cause more damage, but that is what President Trump’s team has created with its reaction to the Signal leak story,” began the editorial, which went on to dispute Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s assertion that “no classified information” was shared in the leaked groupchat.
“His assertion that no classified information was disclosed is very hard to square with the fact that he texted his colleagues materials that were almost certainly developed by and taken from the very CENTCOM planners coordinating the strike operation, including the timeline, sequence, and delivery assets of the coming strikes,” observed the conservative magazine. “Whatever Hegseth and the White House may claim, the information he put out over this unclassified — and at that very moment, compromised — network was extremely sensitive. Indeed, it was classified prima facie; it was born classified by its very nature. If someone who meant us harm had received this information, it would have put American pilots at further risk.”
The editorial continued:
As a matter of crisis communications, it would have been better if Trump officials had simply admitted that they had made a grievous error and promised to tighten up their communications methods and procedures to ensure that all highly sensitive conversations were conducted in the appropriate venue. The strikes on the Houthi terrorists were, after all, successful, and no American lives were lost in the operation.
But the Trump habit of always hitting back at perceived enemies and never admitting mistakes under any circumstances set administration officials up for what was easily predictable: Goldberg’s subsequent revelations proved that administration officials’ answers to the controversy were self-serving, Clintonian, and dishonest.
“Sometimes it’s better to admit a mistake and take the L,” it concluded.
A number of National Review writers — and other conservative media figures — have also joined in condemning the Trump administration over both underlying scandal and its response to it.
The post ‘Self-Serving, Clintonian, and Dishonest’: National Review Hammers Team Trump Over Signal Scandal first appeared on Mediaite.
