A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a preliminary injunction requiring top national security officials who used the encrypted messaging app Signal to notify the acting archivist of the United States about any messages that could be deleted. This ruling, however, does not mandate the recovery of already lost messages. The lawsuit was brought by American Oversight after journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat where Trump administration officials discussed a planned military operation.

While the judge did not order the retrieval of deleted messages, he did grant a partial victory by instructing officials to halt the deletion of messages that had not been erased. The ruling emphasizes the importance of preserving government records, especially in cases of imminent destruction like the auto-deletion feature in Signal.

The controversy surrounding the use of Signal for official government communication raised concerns about potentially sharing classified information. Despite denials from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House regarding the discussion of classified war plans in the Signal chat, the issue remains under scrutiny.

American Oversight alleges that officials violated the Federal Records Act by using Signal, a non-authorized platform for federal records. The watchdog group also argues that administration officials failed to preserve their messages, pointing out the auto-delete setting enabled by multiple chat participants.

In response to the case, the defendants have taken steps to comply with preserving records, although concerns remain about the completeness of the saved chat content. The judge’s opinion suggests that the agencies’ preservation efforts for remaining messages are adequate, casting doubt on American Oversight’s claims of FRA violations.

The ongoing legal battle underscores the importance of transparency, compliance with recordkeeping laws, and the protection of government records that belong to the public.