Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Stealth Story Evolution – THE ATLANTIC
All this hysteria over undelivered promises is rather on brand.
For days now, the national media have been on elevated dudgeon levels over the Signal DoD message scandal. That this was all based on Jeffrey Goldberg’s assertions should have been all the reason to question – deeply – the veracity of his claims.
These were messages he was erroneously included on, and he never alerted any officials of the error. He collected all the transmissions and saved them as they had been set to erase, while claiming classified war plans had been discussed. The reveal in all of this is the alterations in the story as it goes forward.
The original charge of this being a wrongfully organized phone app was dispelled when it was learned this had been put in place by the Biden administration. Now, Goldberg has been releasing the entire text chain, despite previously saying he was holding back due to the classified nature of the discussion. And now, the updated report from The Atlantic no longer claims “war plans” were being discussed.
Recommended
🚨Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sets the record STRAIGHT on this mornings reporting from The Atlantic:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 26, 2025
"I noticed this morning, out came something that doesn't look like 'war plans.' They even CHANGED THE TITLE to 'attack plans,' because THEY KNOW it's not 'war plans.'"… pic.twitter.com/PwZweM3L1p
Theory Over Activity – VARIOUS OUTLETS
That it did not result in this is a mere technicality.
As the Signal scandal is dissolving, the press continues to beat the dead horse. One of the ways we can grasp the desperation in the press is how they continue to insist that one problem with the revealed text chain is that it supposedly placed military lives in danger. Even though it did no such thing.
Let us call back to the first year of the Biden administration when the press downplayed the Afghanistan withdrawal when – again, we recall – military lives were actually lost as a result of the administration's actions.
Slotkin, Michigan Democrats blast top Trump officials over apparent leaked war plans https://t.co/EVOtygQKZ9
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) March 25, 2025
Reporting on the Mirror – NPR / PBS
Maybe not speaking was the better option.
In a House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, a DOGE-inspired interrogation was held regarding the funding of public broadcasting. To say this went awry is more than fair. You knew it was primed for disarray when Rep. Stephen Lynch opened the hearing by complaining Congress was busy with this instead of the Signal controversy – despite this hearing being scheduled about a full month before that story broke.
Then, he criticized the attempt to cancel Big Bird and the show "Arthur" despite "Sesame Street" being sold to a private company a decade ago and "Arthur" ending in 2022.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher was no help for her cause as she initially insisted the network gets a small fraction of its funding from the government, but then stated a loss of those funds would be crippling. And the day unraveled from there.
Congressional Hearing on Funding Public Broadcasting Could Use a Grant From the Common Sense Foundationhttps://t.co/ScLxSNE51B
— RedState (@RedState) March 26, 2025
Pounce of Prevention – WASHINGTON POST
Can you believe they actually heard her?!
For reasons that defy common sense but fit in with the endless series of poor decisions, the Democrats insist on letting Rep. Jasmine Crocket become the mouthpiece of the party. This week, she stirred the pot anew with her insulting remarks about Texas Governor Greg Abbott being confined to a wheelchair.
WaPo goes the expected route when a Democrat crosses lines of impropriety – they lash out at the Republicans for daring to notice the indecent remarks.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett came under fire from Republicans for referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “Governor Hot Wheels.” Crockett made the remark Saturday at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles. https://t.co/2qy4k3ljV5
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 26, 2025
Pathological Media Amnesia – POLITICO
It makes sense when you consider that he took the last four years off.
Attempting to get in on the frenzy in the press over the Signal scandal, Jonathan Martin makes a sweeping proclamation.
No SecDef would survive this in any other admin, and Hegseth may not. But unlike another admin it won’t happen bc lawmakers of said party publicly demand it but bc the prez gets irritated by media coverage portraying his people as clowns https://t.co/hQzFGbmuYo
— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) March 26, 2025
It is very clear Mr. Martin has no recollection of Lloyd Austin going completely missing, and nobody in the administration was even aware he was not available for days. But, sure, no other administration would tolerate “clown” behavior.