Top Officials Leak Bombing Plans on Signal, Secret Structures Beneath Egyptian Pyramids?, Congresswoman Mocks Texas Gov for Being Paralyzed(The Five for 03/25/25)
Welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter, but don’t always make the front page.
This is…a rather strange news day. Let’s get into it.
Someone within the Trump administration accidentally added a journalist from The Atlantic to a group chat on the encrypted app Signal.
As fallout from the Signal scandal continues, the leaders of several intelligence agencies — some of whom were part of the group chat that inadvertently shared war plans with a journalist — are set to testify before Congress this week.
The country's top two intelligence officials, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, are among the five officials expected to appear as witnesses in a pair of hearings in the intelligence committees of the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Wednesday.
The others are FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Kruse and Timothy Haugh, head of the National Security Agency and Central Security Service.
The previously scheduled hearings, to be livestreamed on YouTube, were planned to focus on the latest edition of an annual assessment of worldwide threats to U.S. national security, mainly from China, Russia and Iran. But they are also likely to address a security concern that originated closer to home.
The hearings begin just a day after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that a top Trump administration official had added him to a group chat — on the encrypted messaging app Signal — about the U.S.' highly sensitive plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this month.
Gabbard and Ratcliffe were among the 18 individuals who participated in the text chain, a group that Goldberg said also included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz.
Wow. That’s an epic screwup…
[two]
There might be a wealth of knowledge beneath the Egyptian pyramids…or maybe not.
Claims that an “underground city” exists beneath ancient Egyptian pyramids have caused a row among experts.
Researchers from Italy say they have uncovered giant vertical shafts wrapped in “spiral staircases” under the Khafre pyramid.
They said on Sunday that they found a limestone platform with two chambers and channels that resemble pipelines for a water system more than 2,100 feet below the pyramid, with underground pathways leading even deeper into the earth.
But the claims – which have not been published or independently peer-reviewed – were labelled “false” and “exaggerated” by fellow Egyptologists.
Prof Corrado Malanga and his team from the University of Pisa used radar pulses to create high-resolution images deep into the ground, similar to how sonar radar maps the ocean.
In a statement, he said: “When we magnify the images [in the future], we will reveal that beneath it lies what can only be described as a true underground city.”
The scientists have also said there is “an entire hidden world of many structures’’ and that “the Pyramid of Khafre might conceal undiscovered secrets, notably the fabled Hall of Records”.
I WANT this to be true…but we’ll have to wait for some kind of verified info here.
[three]
Things are quickly turning bad in Turkey, a country with a middle-of-the-road human rights record (at best) is persecuting protestors.
More than a thousand people have been detained during protests following the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Monday.
In a post on X, Yerlikaya said that “1,133 suspects were detained in illegal activities carried out between March 19 and March 23,” adding that “among those captured were individuals affiliated with 12 different terrorist organizations.”
Imamoglu, a political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained from his home on Wednesday. Authorities in Istanbul banned protests and closed some roads “in order to maintain public order” and “prevent any provocative actions that may occur.”
More than 120 police officers were also injured in the demonstrations, Yerlikaya said, adding that objects such as “acid, stones, sticks, fireworks, Molotov cocktails, axes and knives” were seized.
In what appeared to be a warning to the opposition, Yerlikaya said: “Let no one try to use our youth and our people as a shield for their own political ambitions.”
Erdogan called the recent protests a “movement of violence” in a news conference on Monday, saying the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was responsible for any property damage and injury to police officers that occurred during the demonstrations.
“When they look back at this, if they have even an ounce of respect, I believe they will feel embarrassed for the evil they have done to the country and its people,” Erdogan said.
[four]
An up and coming star in the Democratic party is experiencing significant backlash after mocking Texas Governor Greg Abbot for being a paraplegic.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) mocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for his wheelchair in remarks that circulated online Tuesday, drawing sharp condemnation from Republicans.
“Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there. Come on now,” Crockett said at aHuman Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles Saturday. “And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot ass mess, honey.”
Abbott was paralyzed after a tree fell on him while out running over 40 years ago.
The Texas Republican is a key ally for President Donald Trump and has long clashed with Democrats over gun control, immigration and voting rights, among other issues.
Crockett’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on her remarks.
Apparently Crockett turned to the Signal Group and said “hold my beer…I want the negative press for MY party.”
Wow.
[five]
And finally, concealed carry may be allowed in Florida colleges.
Brevard County Republican state Sen. Randy Fine has filed legislation (SB 814) that would extend concealed carry rights to Florida colleges and universities.
The state lawmaker — now running for a seat in Congress — has said over the past year that such legislation is necessary to protect students from “on-campus Muslim terror.”
The bill language says that a person “may carry a firearm on the property of any college or university, including, but not limited to, any dormitory or residence hall owned or operated by a college or university, and in any other location he or she is legally authorized to do so.”
The measure also says that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) may authorize a college or university, while hosting or sponsoring a sporting event, to designate a campus facility or area as a sensitive location in which possession of a concealed weapon is prohibited. To receive such authorization, the school must submit a security plan to the FDLE for approval.
Fine says that he determined to file the bill after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, in light of the “many universities around the country refusing to protect their students from on-campus Muslim terror.”
“The Second Amendment does not take the semester off when you step on a college campus,” Fine said in a statement. “Adults should have the right to protect themselves on campus, particularly after so many universities across America chose to protect Muslim terror advocates over their own students. There is no magic force field that keeps criminals from carrying a gun onto campus; this bill will ensure that students have the same rights on campus as they do off.”
Until the next one,
-sth