Signal chat records must be preserved, federal judge tells Trump administration

Driving the news: U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered every agency with members who participated in the chat to preserve the messages exchanged between March 11 to March 15.

• The agencies must update Boasberg on their efforts by Monday.
• The government said during a hearing Thursday that the agencies are already working to preserve the records that they have.

Zoom out: American Oversight, which sued members of the administration Tuesday, argues the group chat violated the Federal Records Act.

• The group sought to prevent the deletion of messages in question and to compel the government to "preserve and recover federal records created" in the chat.
• The suit names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and officials including national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Marco Rubio in his capacities as secretary of state and acting archivist.

Catch up quick: The group chat included more than a dozen top Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance.

• National security adviser Mike Waltz said Tuesday he takes "full responsibility" for the incident, and reiterated the administration's stance that no classified information was shared during the conversation.
• In response, The Atlantic on Wednesday published additional messages from the chat that it previously opted not to release, including a text from Hegseth with specific times and sequencing of planned U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Go deeper:

• Federal judge sets first hearing in Signal chat case
• What to know about the Houthi rebels U.S. leaders targeted in their Signal chat
• Waltz takes "full responsibility" for Signal group chat scandal