U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has been assigned a lawsuit relating to the Trump administration's use of Signal. (Getty)
American Oversight says its lawsuit centers on the Federal Records Act, which "requires federal officials to preserve communications related to official government business."
"Generally, agencies ensure retention of messages sent on apps like Signal by setting policies requiring officials and personnel to forward them to official systems for proper archival or take other steps to preserve their content," it continued.
The lawsuit names Hegseth; Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as the National Archives and Records Administration, as defendants.
The lawsuit notes that Signal group chats can be set up to delete messages after a certain time threshold, leading to the possibility that certain records were illegally destroyed.
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Former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Andrew Cherkasky argued the assignment of the lawsuit to Boasberg is "legally provocative" and could discredit the D.C. District Court "for generations to come."
"With [Boasberg's] prior outrageous rulings under review by the Circuit Court, I don’t think it is wise to allow him more Trump injunction cases," Cherkasky told Fox News Digital.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was included on a Signal groupchat involving information about military strikes in Yemen. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
Meanwhile, the White House has rejected claims that the groupchat's members used the app for "war planning," as has been described by various media outlets.
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Gabbard emphasized during a Wednesday House Intelligence Committee hearing that no classified information was shared in the chat.
"It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a signal chat with high-level national security principles, having a policy discussion about imminent strikes against the Houthis and the effects of the strike," Gabbard said. "The national security advisor has taken full responsibility for this, and the National Security Council is conducting an in-depth review, along with tech technical experts working to determine how this reporter was inadvertently added to this chat."
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-fighting-trump-over-el-salvador-deportations-assigned-lawsuit-over-signal-chat-leak