Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

I’m sitting on the press benches of another Senate committee - on foreign relations - where Republican chairman James Risch has just acknowledged concerns about what he called the "serious leak" of information.

That came after the leading Democrat on the committee Jeanne Shaheen called for the committee to express its concerns about the recent news of "sharing classified information".

She pointed out that Trump's top diplomat - Secretary of State Marco Rubio - was on the group chat. She said the committee must ensure the government was “safeguarding critical information” as the law requires.

The chairman said he had spoken to Rubio about it on Monday.

"He is really aware of these kinds of things, we have leakage that happens from time to time," said Risch.

"I can assure you that his knowledge is such and his commitment is such that he had no knowledge of there being the tap on [the chat group] that there was when he was communicating."

Risch added: “I don’t think there’s anybody that wouldn’t be concerned about a serious leak like this."

Senator Ron Wyden asks FBI Director Kash Patel if he has ever participated in any chats on phones relating to national security.

"Not that I can recall," Patel replies.

For context, Patel is not believed to have been in the Signal chat.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is now leading questioning from the committee.

He asks both Ratcliffe and Gabbard if they've participated in other similar group chats sharing classified information – both say they have never.

Neither object to taking part in an audit of the incident. Ratcliffe adds that he would cooperate with "any follow up" the national security council would deem appropriate, before he repeats his use of Signal was "permissible".

Image source, Getty Images

There's a considerable back and forth now between Senator Warner and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.

The senator asks Gabbard about a social media post she wrote eleven days ago, in which she suggested that any unauthorised release of classified information is a violation of the law, and will be treated as such.

Off the back of this the Democrat asks Gabbard what she intends to do regarding the Signal group chat.

Gabbard responds by saying there is a difference between "inadvertent release" and "malicious leaks" of information.

Secondly, she suggests that there was "no classified information" on the Signal group chat anyway.

Running out of time, Warner rushes to ask FBI Director Kash Patel for an update on behalf of his organisation.

Patel says he was only briefed late last night and has no update - he's then quickly told by Warner that he must offer an update "by the end of the day".

Warner asks Gabbard if she ever thought the military planning should have been done in a sensitive compartmented information facility - also known as a SCIF.

"'There was no classified material shared in that Signal chat,' she replies.

If that's the case, share it with the committee, Warner urges.

"You can't have it both ways," he adds.

Warner pushes Gabbard again, and she reiterates that there was no classified material shared in the Signal group chat.

Image source, Reuters

CIA director John Ratcliffe is up now. He confirms he was a member of the Signal group chat, which he is insisting was a "permissible work use".

"That is a practice that preceded the current administration to the Biden administration," he tells Democratic Senator Mark Warner.

Reading from papers in front of him, he lays out his view in full: "It is permissible to use to communicate and coordinate for work purposes," he says, speaking over Warner's interjections, "provided, Senator, that any decisions that are made are also recorded through formal channels."

He reiterates that his messages in the chat did not include classified information, to which Warner fires back: "If it's not classified, share the texts with the committee!"

We're hearing again from Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who says if the information got out from the group, "American lives could have been lost."

He asks Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, if she was in the group.

"I don't want to get into... the conversation," she says.

Warner interrupts: "Answer my question".

Gabbard and Warner go back and forth, as she refuses to answer the question.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

I finally made my way through the long lines to enter the Senate building and, upon arriving to the door of the hearing, I heard yells coming from the inside.

A security guard stopped me, as a slew of officers holding a woman escorted her from the room just a few feet away from me.

She was one of two protesters that security led out within the first five minutes of my arrival.

Image source, Reuters

Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, is the first witness to speak. She was allegedly in the group chat about air strikes in Yemen.

However, so far she has not mentioned the Signal group chat.

Instead she is talking more broadly about security challenges, which was originally set as the theme of the hearing. She says the US faces "an increasingly complex threat environment that is threatening us here at home and our interests abroad".

We'll keep across the hearing for any more comments on the main subject of the day - it is likely that Democrats on the committee will continue to push members of the administration on the group chat.

Democratic Senator Warner goes on to talk about the more general theme of intelligence threats, which was the original purpose of this hearing before Signal-gate.

He says that he fears US creditability is being undermined, using the example of stopping intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

"The Signal fiasco is not a one off," Warner tells the hearing.

"It is unfortunately a pattern," he continues, "which we're seeing too often repeated."

"I fear we feel the erosion of trust from our workplace, companies, allies and partners that can't be put back in the bottle overnight."

"Make no mistake, these actions make America less safe."

Image source, Getty Images

We're hearing opening remarks now from Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who chairs the committee. Cotton is avoiding the topic of the group chat.

Next is Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who isn't holding back.

He denounces what he calls "sloppy, careless, incompetent behaviour".

"All these senior folks were on this line and nobody even bothered to check – security hygiene 101 – who are all these names?" Warner says.

He commends Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg for having the "ethics" to not report the most sensitive information he saw in the group chat.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

I arrived just a little while ago at the Hart Senate Office Building to attend this Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, where intelligence officials, including two from the leaked Signal chat, are due to speak shortly.

There are multiple entrances into the building and right now each door has a long line of visitors waiting to pass through security.

Presumably, most here are here for what's been described as the largest blunder of the new Trump administration - adding a journalist to group chat discussing imminent war plans.

One woman standing in line has a huge blow-up model of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's head and the words "oopsie" written on it. Hegseth is believed to have been in the Signal chat and called Europe "pathetic".

Image source, BBC / Brandon Drenon

As a reminder, you can click watch live at the top of this page to follow the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing which has just begun on Capitol Hill and is expected to hear testimony from at least two members of the Trump administration who were included in the leaked group chat.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Waltz 'learned his lesson' - but which one?published at 14:08 Greenwich Mean Time 25 March

14:08 GMT 25 March

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

It's not a scandal, it's a "glitch". And "not a serious one" at that.

At least, this is how Donald Trump is labelling the mistakes that led to a prominent journalist being included in a high-level administration group chat about recent US strikes on Houthi forces in Yemen.

The president's comments to NBC News arrived after hours of speculation and uncertainty over how he would react to what appears to be a stunning breach of operational security – and a possible violation of federal law.

Was he fuming? Was he weighing whom to hold accountable? Was he preparing to lash out at perceived enemies?

No, no and no. That is, at least if Trump’s first public comments are any indication. He emphasised that the Houthi strikes were successful – which has become the White House's main response to concerns over the seriousness of the security breach. And he stood by his embattled national security adviser, who seems to have inadvertently invited the journalist into the chat.

"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson," Trump said, "and he's a good man."

Exactly what that "lesson" may be is unclear.

Don't invite journalists to government group chats? Don't conduct such conversations on commercial messaging apps? Don't risk violating federal laws governing recordkeeping and the handling of sensitive national security data?

In the days ahead, reporters and political adversaries are going to want more detailed answers from the president, even if at the moment he appears to believe the controversy will eventually blow over.

Ahead of a Senate hearing of intelligence officials - who are due to give testimony on worldwide threats in a hearing scheduled for 10:00 EDT/1400 GMT - Intelligence Committee member Jim Himes says he will be asking questions on the group chat scandal.

Speaking to the BBC, he says the incident sees "the most senior national security officials in the United States" using the app to transmit the "most sensitive information we have".

This could "very easily translate into dead sailors, into dead pilots, because our plans have been blown" he adds.

"So, this is a breach really of the most serious nature."

Committee chair Tom Cotton told Fox News he expects the subject to arise, but says the focus should be on the "decisive action" the president took against the Houthi group.

The hearing is due to start any minute. We'll bring you the key lines, or you can watch by clicking the Watch live button at the top of this page.

Image source, Getty Images

We can bring you the latest from Donald Trump now.

In fresh comments to NBC News, the president is standing by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who allegedly admitted journalist Jeffrey Goldberg into the Signal group chat.

"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man," he says.

Trump called it a "glitch" that Goldberg was added, and said a staffer of Waltz is to blame.

Goldberg's presence in the chat had "no impact at all" on the operation, Trump adds.

Imogen James
Live reporter

As America wakes up to the continuing fallout from a leaked US intelligence group chat, here are the key points:

• The news broke yesterday from magazine The Atlantic. Editor Jeffrey Goldberg reported he'd been added to a chat on the Signal app, from an account labelled White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz
• Also in the chat were other accounts appearing to belong to Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth
• The journalist witnessed people appearing to be government officials using the group to organise an air strike on the Yemen Houthi groupwhich killed 53. Members also criticised Europe for "free-loading"
• President Donald Trump says he knows nothing about the chat, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters "nobody was texting war plans"
• But House Speaker Mike Johnson says it was a mistake which will be addressed
• The incident has drawn fierce criticism from the Democrats. Senate leader Chuck Schumer labelled it a "stunning" intelligence breach
• Later, intelligence leaders will be quizzed on global threats by the Senate, where they may well face questions on the events

As we wait to see what more could come of this bizarre situation, stick with us for the latest lines.

Here in London, we've just heard from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on the alleged US data breach reports.

Rayner tells the BBC's World at One programme that she "doesn't have much more to add" in response to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly accusing Europe of "free-loading" off the US.

Refusing to "pre-empt" what Hesgeth might have meant by his comments, Rayner adds: "I don't recognise that there is a challenge between the UK and US relations, they are as strong as they've always been."

In the Signal chat, Vice-President JD Vance also appeared to take aim at UK-EU relations, when an account bearing his name commented: "I just hate bailing Europe out again."

Rayner notes that "people say things in private messaging," and adds: "It's for the vice-president to decide and to clarify what he means by those conversations".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

There's only one topic of conversation at the White House this morning: "SignalGate".

I've heard nothing else since stepping onto the property a few moments ago. Outside, a handful of network TV reporters were doing lives, and walking quickly past I could hear the words "signal" and the names of Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth being spoken.

Inside the White House, I saw a handful of photographers and camera operators discussing memes they'd seen about the scandal, while downstairs in the basement reporters were theorising about whom would ultimately be held responsible.

There are no public events on President Trump's schedule today.

At 12:30 EST (16:30 GMT), he is due to have lunch with Vice-President JD Vance, behind closed doors.

An hour and half later, he's scheduled to sign executive orders in the Oval Office. This is also closed to the press for the moment, but similar events often open up to the White House press "pool" at the last minute.

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Signal has lots of security benefits that make it more secure than some rival messaging apps, as we told you earlier.

But the simple fact that the app can be used on a personal device, be it a phone or computer, makes it a poor choice - and possibly an illegal one - for national security.

Governments have their own highly secure systems to be used for this purpose. In the US this is known as a sensitive compartmented information facility - an enclosed area within a building in which personal devices aren’t allowed.

There’s a reason for this. If someone lost the device they were accessing Signal on, it could have severe consequences.

But there’s another big issue at play here.

Signal, like many other messaging apps, allows its users to set messages to disappear after a set period of time. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg said some of the messages in the Signal group disappeared after a week.

This may in itself violate laws around record-keeping - unless those using the app forwarded on their messages to an official government account.