March 27Mar 27 Quote Michael Waltz’s Venmo Is Public, and It’s Full of Journalists The figure who tagged a journalist into a Signal chat about the attack on Yemen also failed to set his Venmo to private, revealing his willingness to engage with reporters of all political stripes. by Daniel Boguslaw March 26, 2025 This week, The Atlantic published a stunning article on a group Signal chat that included the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. military and intelligence community, coordinating and executing a bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic and author of the article, was tagged into the chat by national security adviser Michael Waltz, a mistake that afforded the EIC a front-row seat to officials as high up as the secretary of defense and the vice president debating the decision. Once the attack plans for Yemen were revealed, Goldberg chose to remove himself from the group chat, and before reversing course after public backlash, he censored parts of the conversation on national-security grounds. In a phone interview Tuesday with NBC News, President Trump appeared to defend his national security adviser, telling the press, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” adding that "it was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there.” Whether Waltz has fully learned his lesson seems to be more of an open question, especially given the Prospect’s discovery that his personal Venmo account remains public, with some 300 "friends” actively listed on his profile. And while Goldberg doesn’t appear in Waltz’s Venmo contact list, several other journalists do, according to a Prospect review. More from Daniel Boguslaw Approximately ten minutes after requesting comment, Michael Waltz’s account disappeared from Venmo. Wired was the first to report the news. In a statement, National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said, "NSA Waltz was previously a U.S. Congressman and Fox News contributor. He has relationships with people who work in media. There should be nothing surprising here.” Like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, whose Venmo account I reported on several weeks ago, Waltz’s account was never set to private, showing hundreds of names who are likely in his phone as contacts, some of whom he may or may not have exchanged cash transfers with. Unlike Goldberg, we are not going to redact and revise this publicly available information. What has remained largely unchallenged in the conversation surrounding the Atlantic article is the symbiotic relationship between senior government and military officials and their friends in the media. Having reviewed the now-unredacted information in the Signal exchange, it seems well within the realm of possibility that the bombing sequence would be shared simultaneously or directly after completion of the attack with a friendly news outlet—perhaps even The Atlantic—to score political points. This is part of the operational tactics of the Blob: the agglomeration of former generals, think-tankers, ex-officials, lobbyists, and the media, all working to present a clean narrative on national-security topics. What sets this week’s incident apart is that the usually highly choreographed and invisible dance between reporter and reportee was laid bare for all to see. And Waltz’s Venmo shows that Goldberg is not the only reporter willing to partake in that dance with him. In addition to former members of Congress, think-tank scholars, and even the apparent winner of the Miss Florida pageant, Mike Waltz’s Venmo shows that partisan news media of both the left and the right routinely dip their beaks in the White House trough, as every major network reporter does to keep the redacted and highly massaged scoops pumping. Unsurprisingly, Fox News holds the highest head count for reporters in Mike Waltz’s phone. Griff Jenkins, whose Fox.com bio lists him as "a Washington-based national correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) and as a co-anchor of FOX News Live,” is joined on the list by Brian Kilmeade, co-host of Fox & Friends. Porter Berry, president and editor in chief of Fox News Digital, also made the cut. But right-wing reporters are not the only ones represented in Waltz’s Venmo list, which appears to be less than "clean on OPSEC,” as Secretary of Defense Hegseth wrote in the group chat leaked this week. Leland Vittert, a national correspondent for NewsNation, is also listed on the digital account, as is Brianna Keilar, an American journalist who currently serves as co-anchor of the afternoon edition of CNN News Central, a network President Trump routinely decries as fake news. Lauren Peikoff, an executive producer at MSNBC, is also in Waltz’s contacts.
March 28Mar 28 This Cabinet is free to engage in criminal behavior, no matter the crime, and they will never be held responsible by this Government.
March 28Mar 28 1 hour ago, lynched1 said: 🤣🤣🤣 It’s almost sad that your life is so pathetic that you would think this type of behavior is what we want to see in the POTUS, let alone our fellow humans.
March 28Mar 28 5 hours ago, Gannan said: I don't care if he learned his lesson. He added him and he lied about not knowing him and has made one bad statement after another. He should be fired.
March 28Mar 28 So Trump is increasing the pressure on Denmark and Greenland to basically give up their land (Greenland) by either selling it or else. We all had a good laugh the first time he ever mentioned buying Greenland. He is doubling and tripling down on this unimaginable threat to another allied, democratic country. The Danish Government has already said that these threats are crossing a red line. Is there anyone in MAGA world that agrees with the US taking Greenland by force if they don’t cave in to these "sell” demands? @DrPhilly what are the Scandinavians up north saying?
March 28Mar 28 1 minute ago, Frankfurteagle89 said: So Trump is increasing the pressure on Denmark and Greenland to basically give up their land (Greenland) by either selling it or else. We all had a good laugh the first time he ever mentioned buying Greenland. He is doubling and tripling down on this unimaginable threat to another allied, democratic country. The Danish Government has already said that these threats are crossing a red line. Is there anyone in MAGA world that agrees with the US taking Greenland by force if they don’t cave in to these "sell” demands? @DrPhilly what are the Scandinavians up north saying? The news up here is about Russia having eyes on Svalbard (currently part of Norway) and the risk that Putin/Trump will agree to divide these two.
March 28Mar 28 11 minutes ago, DrPhilly said: The news up here is about Russia having eyes on Svalbard (currently part of Norway) and the risk that Putin/Trump will agree to divide these two. That’s Spitzbergen?! Norway has the rights to it and it’s demilitarized by the Treaty of 1920. All countries can use it for economical purposes. Russia has people on the main island and I guess the fear is that they will follow the same scenario as they did with the Krim.
March 28Mar 28 3 minutes ago, Frankfurteagle89 said: That’s Spitzbergen?! Norway has the rights to it and it’s demilitarized by the Treaty of 1920. All countries can use it for economical purposes. Russia has people on the main island and I guess the fear is that they will follow the same scenario as they did with the Krim. Well it is part of Norway and the Soviet Union signed the treaty. It does include the right for others to continue economic activity, yes, and Russia does so. It would make perfect sense for Russia to want Svalbard and it fits nicely with the "sphere of influence" concept where Putin gets Europe and Trump all of North/South America.
March 28Mar 28 5 hours ago, Diehardfan said: I don't care if he learned his lesson. He added him and he lied about not knowing him and has made one bad statement after another. He should be fired. Everyone on the call broke at least one law and should be charged. This was a serious breach in security.
March 28Mar 28 14 minutes ago, DrPhilly said: Well it is part of Norway and the Soviet Union signed the treaty. It does include the right for others to continue economic activity, yes, and Russia does so. It would make perfect sense for Russia to want Svalbard and it fits nicely with the "sphere of influence" concept where Putin gets Europe and Trump all of North/South America. Yeah, if that’s their mutual agreement and plan, then it would make perfect sense. All the natural resources could be somewhat evenly divided. What a horrifying scenario. Crazy to even talk about it.🤷♂️
March 28Mar 28 1 minute ago, Frankfurteagle89 said: Yeah, if that’s their mutual agreement and plan, then it would make perfect sense. All the natural resources could be somewhat evenly divided. What a horrifying scenario. Crazy to even talk about it.🤷♂️ Who knows? One of the theories and much of their actions do seem to line up.
March 28Mar 28 1 hour ago, DrPhilly said: The news up here is about Russia having eyes on Svalbard (currently part of Norway) and the risk that Putin/Trump will agree to divide these two. Think Russia still have some mining operations up there, don't they ?
March 28Mar 28 Just now, gregbwfc1 said: Think Russia still have some mining operations up there, don't they ? I am no expert on what they have there but a quick search shows that Russia is active on Svalbard, yes.
March 28Mar 28 Just now, DrPhilly said: I am no expert on what they have there but a quick search shows that Russia is active on Svalbard, yes. Honestly mate, I've tried staying out of this, it's been tough though 😁. I only know this bit as we visited a few years ago. Think one of their ops is about as far north as you can realistically go. Next stop is the north pole. Barentsburg, that's the place.
March 28Mar 28 9 minutes ago, gregbwfc1 said: Honestly mate, I've tried staying out of this, it's been tough though 😁. I only know this bit as we visited a few years ago. Think one of their ops is about as far north as you can realistically go. Next stop is the north pole. Barentsburg, that's the place. That’s cool. Did you enjoy visiting?
March 28Mar 28 31 minutes ago, gregbwfc1 said: Think Russia still have some mining operations up there, don't they ? They do. Supposed to be about 400 Russians in the area. Let’s hope they don’t fear for their lives because the evil Norwegians are suppressing the small Russian community. Sure enough, Putin would have to save those poor Russians from the neo n a z i Norwegians…😁
March 28Mar 28 1 hour ago, DrPhilly said: That’s cool. Did you enjoy visiting? Yeah, we visited in August so got the midnight sun thing. Interesting place, and furthest north I've been by a good way.
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