Sen. Kevin Cramer’s conversation with Scott Hennen over the Signal app controversy
By: Steve Hallstrom
WASHINGTON – Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota is speaking out on the “Signal” controversy, which thrust the nation into a fiery debate about how sensitive military conversations are handled in the Trump administration and the competence of certain members of his defense team.
The incident, as it’s being reported currently, stands as a major security breach involving top U.S. officials who used the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive military plans, inadvertently including a reporter in the conversation.
From March 11 to March 15, senior Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, were part of a Signal group chat named “Houthi PC small group.”
This chat was intended to coordinate plans for U.S. military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, scheduled for March 15.
The discussion included operational details like weapons and timing—information typically classified or at least highly sensitive.
The controversy erupted when Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was accidentally added to the chat by Michael Waltz’s office on March 13th.
Initially skeptical, Goldberg realized the chat was legitimate as he observed real-time planning unfold, culminating in Hegseth sharing specific strike details two hours before the attack.
Goldberg published two separate accounts of this on March 24 and March 26 showing transcripts of the messages, including the military plans.
The reaction was swift and strong. Democrats, like Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Chris Coons, called it a stunning breach of national security, potentially illegal under laws like the Espionage Act, and demanded investigations.
They criticized the use of Signal—a commercial app not sanctioned for classified communications—over secure government channels like JWICS or SIPRNet. Republican reaction was less intense, with some, like President Donald Trump, dismissing the controversy as overblown or attacking Goldberg’s credibility. The National Security Council has confirmed the chat’s authenticity, and says it is reviewing how Goldberg was added.
On March 28 Senator Kevin Cramer appeared on The Flag’s “What’s On Your Mind?” radio program, with host Scott Hennen to discuss several topics, including the ongoing Signal controversy.
Cramer called it a significant but isolated mistake. He reiterated his stance that it was “big and dumb,” a phrase he’d used on other media interviews earlier in the week, emphasizing that such a lapse in operational security shouldn’t happen again. He told Hennen, “This was the first strike, and it’s a big one. They should’ve owned it right away—dragging it out made it worse.”
“Both Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz bear some responsibility for what happened. What Mike Waltz did was the most embarrassing of all these things,” said Cramer, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee
“And that was, of course, either he or someone on his team accidentally invited a reporter on to this chat group. And that was a major blunder from a PR standpoint. That’s not the real root of the problem though. The root of the problem is, that the Secretary of Defense put very detailed attack plans on this unsecured platform called Signal,” adds Cramer.
In the aftermath of the incident, Democrats have pushed for resignations, in particular Hegseth and Waltz, while the administration defended the coordination as effective, citing the strikes’ success. No firings have been announced, and Trump has admitted that a mistake was made and said people have learned from it.
The controversy remains unresolved, with ongoing calls for congressional probes and debates over Signal’s role in government communications still unfolding.
“A lot of us use Signal for sensitive communications back and forth particularly with people in Defense,” said Cramer, “But not things this detailed or this sensitive. To discuss anything this sensitive I have to use a secure cellphone. There’s a special secure cellphone you can use and it’s got special software. It doesn’t belong to me; it belongs to the government, and I can talk securely to, say, the Director of National Intelligence.”
Cramer said people can rightfully have different opinions on how bad a mistake this was. But, he says, it’s like a quarterback throwing six touchdown passes and one interception.
“If we’re not careful, all of this is going to be made into a bigger deal than it really is. Don’t get me wrong (raises voice), this is not a small deal. It’s got to be fixed, and the president said it’s fixed. They’re not going to do it again. All those things. That’s what we need to concentrate on; what’s the method going forward? So, I think everyone’s right, I just think it’s a question of degree or emphasis on whatever piece of the formula you want to focus on,” Cramer said.
Cramer also said he supports an investigation, aligning with his comments to reporters on March 25 and 27, where he backed the Senate Armed Services Committee’s call for a probe by the Defense Department’s inspector general. On the radio, he clarified to Hennen that this wasn’t about punishing individuals but ensuring accountability.
“I don’t think a head has to roll yet, but we need to know how this happened and make damn sure it’s the last time.” He stressed Signal’s unsuitability for sensitive discussions, noting, “It’s not the platform for this kind of thing—there are secure systems for a reason.”
Cramer also downplayed calls for resignations (e.g., from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or National Security Adviser Michael Waltz), saying, “No one’s perfect, and this isn’t a firing offense unless it repeats.”
As of March 31, there have been no specific, direct public statements on the matter from either Senator John Hoeven or Representative Julie Fedorchak.
In the days since the controversy developed, a Pentagon-wide advisory has been issued, warning against using the Signal app, even for unclassified information.
“A vulnerability has been identified in the Signal Messenger Application,” begins the department-wide email, dated March 18 and obtained by NPR. “Russian professional hacking groups are employing the ‘linked devices’ features to spy on encrypted conversations.” It notes that Google has also identified Russian hacking groups that are “targeting Signal Messenger to spy on persons of interest.”
