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By April Ryan
BLACKPRESSUSA
“I hope by getting busted–and the only reason they were busted is because they were stupid enough to include a journalist in the text chat–that they won’t do this again,” says a “concerned” former National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Signal-gate.
Signal-gate refers to the scandal resulting from the news that the vice president and high-ranking Trump administration cabinet members, including the Secretary of Defense, CIA chief, and the director of national intelligence, used the phone app Signal to discuss an attack on the Houthis that occurred on March 20.
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Rice spoke exclusively with Black Press USA, explaining why she thinks they did what they did. Rice believes the use of the phone app by the Trump officials is a matter of thwarting laws to provide information about the attack, which they were traditionally supposed to communicate in a secure location.
“In Project 2025 [it is] recommended that U.S. national security and other officials use commercial applications so that they don’t have to make them presidential records.” Rice said. “These deliberations, by law, as any in any presidential administration, have to be preserved, provided to the National Archives and retained. To not retain these conversations is a violation of the Federal Records Act.”
Traditionally, in past administrations, there was an attempt to “preserve presidential records.” But with this White House, it is unknown how often the National Security Council held discussions involving national security officials, cabinet members, or any other executive branch officials using the Signal messaging service or any other application not approved for transmitting classified information.
However, Rice emphasizes that the United States has created a chasm with its foreign allies, “not just [in] how they fail to conduct proper deliberations, but how they recklessly and negligently treat classified information.”
The intelligence expert says it all signals a drastic shift in America’s foreign posture.
“They’re radically realigning the United States away from our historical traditional allies in Europe, in Asia, and Canada, turning us into adversaries with our traditional allies and getting in bed with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, of China, and Russia.”
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The AFRO knows what it’s like to endure challenging times. John H. Murphy, Sr., a former enslaved man founded the AFRO in 1892 with $200 from his wife, Martha Howard Murphy. Together they created a platform to offer images and stories of hope to advance their community. The AFRO provides readers with good news about the Black community not otherwise found.
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