Trump Officials Downplay the Signal Leak. Some Military Members See a Double Standard

[Tony]

The White House continues to largely dismiss a highly sensitive discussion by leading national security officials on the open-source encrypted Signal messaging app that leaked to a reporter.

At a White House briefing Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the media "continues to be focused on a sensationalized story from the failing Atlantic magazine that is falling apart by the hour."

But the leak of operational details lands a little differently with military veterans and especially with active-duty troops, who can be discharged and prosecuted for much lower-level leaks. Security breaches like what happened in the Signal group chat are called "spillage" by the military.