When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stands behind the podium that bears the presidential seal, she usually has a large cross dangling from her neck. She is sending a signal to the assembled reporters and to television viewers that she is representing President Donald Trump, her orange messiah.
During her Monday press briefing Leavitt was asked for an update on any review to the SignalGate debacle that witnessed a reporter accidentally added to a group chat in which top Trump officials discussed a war strike on Yemen.
“This case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned,” she snapped. “There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again.”
“Case closed”. The message could not be any clearer, the Trump administration is done talking about the group war chat, and everyone else should fall in line, including reporters.
The case has never been opened, and the administration has not explicitly stated what steps, if any, have been taken to ensure that such a colossal mistake will never happen again.
Case not closed. Most of the White House correspondents are not members of the cult, and their job is to hold regime officials accountable for their mistakes and lapses in judgment.
SignalGate is unacceptable. Reporters must demand answers. Citizens must demand accountability. We must hold the Trump administration accountable for their gross incompetence and glaring arrogance that is making our country less safe, and our democracy more fragile.
