Democrat Appointed District Judge Orders Trump Officials To Preserve Texts About Yemen Strikes

On Thursday, a federal judge who previously blocked the Trump administration from deporting foreign gang members ordered the preservation of all leaked messages between administration officials containing “attack plans.”

Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris of The Atlantic published transcripts in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth detailed the military’s plans for an attack on the Houthis in Yemen, followed by Vice President JD Vance declaring he would “say a prayer for victory.” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, nominated by former President Barack Obama, directed the Trump administration to preserve all communications made through the Signal app between March 11 to March 15.

Boasberg’s directive specifically targets five Trump officials who actively participated in the discussions, mandating that they “promptly make best efforts” to preserve messages. Goldberg’s article detailed the administration’s planned attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, revealing sensitive information about the timing and weaponry intended for use in the strike.

American Oversight, a group known for frequently suing the federal government for records, filed the lawsuit and alleges that the group chat breached the Federal Records Act.

“This order marks an important step toward accountability,” American Oversight Interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement. “We are grateful for the judge’s ruling to halt any further destruction of these critical records. The public has a right to know how decisions about war and national security are made — and accountability doesn’t disappear just because a message was set to auto-delete.”