American Oversight Seeks Preliminary Injunction in Signalgate Case Following New Hegseth Revelations

On Tuesday, nonpartisan watchdog American Oversight filed a motion for preliminary injunction in its ongoing Signalgate lawsuit against the Trump administration. The motion follows new revelations that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used yet another private Signal chat to discuss sensitive government information — this time with his wife and brother, among others — and requests immediate court intervention to prevent further destruction of communications sent via the Signal messaging app in violation of the Federal Records Act (FRA).

The FRA requires cabinet officials to implement proper record-keeping systems for Signal communications, mandates the preservation of all relevant messages, and compels the reporting of any unlawfully deleted records.

“The Trump administration’s rampant use of Signal with its auto-delete feature is part of a dangerous and deliberate effort to evade federal records laws. Each passing day risks further destruction of records that belong to the American public. That’s why we filed our lawsuit,” said Chioma Chukwu, interim Executive Director of American Oversight. “When cabinet officials use auto-deleting platforms to conduct public business, they aren’t just violating the Federal Records Act — they’re erasing the public’s right to know, dodging accountability, and putting national security at risk. The American people have every right to expect their leaders to follow the law — not cover their tracks.”

This latest legal action from American Oversight follows yesterday’s amended complaint seeking a declaration that the Trump administration’s messages sent and received over Signal are, in fact, federal records subject to the FRA. In the weeks since American Oversight filed its initial Signalgate lawsuit and launched an investigation into Trump administration officials’ unlawful use of Signal for discussing sensitive information and planning military attacks, mounting evidence has suggested that the behavior is not isolated but a broader pattern — as evidenced by the alleged second private Signal chat on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personal cellphone in which he discussed imminent Yemen strikes with his wife, brother, personal lawyer, and “about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle.”