Democrats and allied media pundits claimed to be outraged this week over a report that revealed high-level Trump administration officials had used the encrypted messaging app Signal to conduct a group chat discussing imminent airstrikes against Houthi terrorists in Yemen earlier this month.

Yet, according to a Biden-Harris administration memo issued just last year, the Signal app was not only specifically approved but was actually recommended as a means for top officials to securely communicate with each other, Just the News reported.

The revelation sharply undercuts the assertions from critics of the current administration that its use of the mobile app to discuss impending military operations amongst themselves -- witnessed and later reported by a lurking anti-Trump journalist inadvertently invited to the chat -- was an example of incompetence and inadequate security measures.

In December 2024, roughly one month before the change in administrations, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a "Mobile Communications Best Practice Guidance" for all administration officials, but especially "highly targeted individuals," to follow as it pertained to the use of certain encrypted mobile apps to communicate with one another in a secure manner.

"Best practice"

That memo was released in the wake of reports that China had hacked U.S. telecommunications companies and infrastructure and obtained critical information that otherwise would not have been made public.

The five-page memo stated, "While applicable to all audiences, this guidance specifically addresses 'highly targeted' individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions and likely to possess information of interest to these threat actors. CISA is releasing this best practice guidance to promote protections for mobile communications from exploitation by PRC-affiliated and other malicious cyber threat actors."

"Highly targeted individuals should assume that all communications between mobile devices -- including government and personal devices -- and internet services are at risk of interception or manipulation," the memo continued. "While no single solution eliminates all risks, implementing these best practices significantly enhances protection of sensitive communications against government-affiliated and other malicious cyber actors."

Among the eight "General Recommendations" provided by CISA, the very first dealt was to "Use only end-to-end encrypted communications," and officials were instructed to "Adopt a free messaging application for secure communications that guarantees end-to-end encryption, such as Signal or similar apps."

Sen. Cotton confirms Biden admin approved use of Signal

Just the News reported that while he didn't specifically mention the December 2024 CISA memo, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) confirmed during a Tuesday appearance on "Fox & Friends" that the encrypted Signal app had been approved and recommended for usage by top officials during the prior administration.

When asked about the Democratic and media-fueled controversy over the Trump administration's use of the Signal app, Cotton quipped, "I bet a bunch of those senators that you see at the hearing today are using Signal as well, to speak to each other or to speak to their aides."

"It is my understanding that the Biden administration authorized Signal as a means of communication that was consistent with presidential record-keeping requirements for its administration, and that continued into the Trump administration," he continued.

The senator added, "It is simply another messaging app, like the iMessage app on your iPhone, or email servers, that every administration has set up in which senior administration officials can communicate with each other."

CISA recommendations conflict with prior DoD guidance

However, according to AL.com, the CISA memo authorizing the use of Signal would seem to conflict with guidance issued by the Defense Department over a year earlier, in October 2023, that seemed to warn against the use of such apps for the sharing of "controlled unclassified information" or "unclassified DoD information" that was not approved for public release.

Among the guidance's "Application Security Requirements" was one that stated, "Unmanaged 'messaging apps,' including any app with a chat feature, regardless of the primary function, are NOT authorized to access, transmit, process non-public DoD information. This includes but is not limited to messaging, gaming, and social media apps. (i.e., iMessage, WhatsApps, Signal)," though the policy did allow for requested exceptions for the "use of an unmanaged messaging app that is critical to fulfilling mission operations."