Seneca Project's Tara Setmayer on Signal-gate. Plus she gives her reaction to our town hall at the University of Virginia Center for Politics

Summary

Summary of "The Jim Acosta Show" Featuring Tara Setmayer on Signal-Gate and UVA Town Hall

Release Date: March 25, 2025

Introduction: Setting the Stage at the University of Virginia

In this episode of "The Jim Acosta Show," host Jim Acosta welcomes Tara Setmayer from the Seneca Project to discuss two pivotal topics: the recent Signal-gate scandal and Tara’s reflections on a town hall event held at the University of Virginia (UVA) Center for Politics.

1. Signal-Gate Scandal: A Breach of National Security

Time Stamp: [00:00 - 05:17]

Jim Acosta introduces the central topic—the Signal-gate scandal involving top administration officials using the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive war plans, specifically airstrikes on the Houthis. Tara Setmayer expresses her initial disbelief:

"[01:20] Tara Setmayer: That was a. Holy shit. That was my reaction. Okay."

As the discussion unfolds, Tara recounts her experience witnessing similar political fervor during the 2016 Republican National Convention, highlighting the irony of former officials who once advocated for prosecuting Hillary Clinton now engaging in reckless communications:

"[02:34] Tara Setmayer: Oh, my God. ... they wanted to put Hillary Clinton in jail over the server issue."

Jim Acosta underscores the gravity of the situation, labeling it a "massive security breach" and criticizes Republican leaders for downplaying the incident:

"[03:33] Jim Acosta: ... this was a massive security breach. A huge security breach. I've never heard of anything like this."

Tara elaborates on the incompetence and irresponsibility displayed by officials, emphasizing the dangers of relying on platforms like Signal for critical intelligence communications:

"[04:55] Tara Setmayer: ... putting our whole intel business on a Signal chat like they're planning a bachelor party in Vegas is so irresponsible."

2. Media Coverage and Political Reactions

Time Stamp: [05:17 - 08:02]

The conversation transitions to media responses, with Tara critiquing Fox News for their hypocritical stance—promoting vaccination while undermining secure communications. Jim Acosta highlights the bipartisan hypocrisy and the lack of effective operational security among officials using Signal:

"[06:17] Tara Setmayer: ... last time I checked, we have a lot of foreign adversaries that want to break into our shit and find out what's going on."

Jim Acosta references a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing where officials like Tulsi Gabbard were questioned about their presence in the compromised text thread, pointing out the absurdity and seriousness of the situation:

"[07:04] Jim Acosta: ... this is deadly serious. And this is why folks like you, Tara, were saying, tulsi Gabbard, not qualified. Pete Hegseth not qualified, et cetera."

Tara responds by criticizing the lack of qualified and competent individuals in these roles, stressing that such breaches would never occur with responsible adults in charge:

"[08:02] Tara Setmayer: ... this is what happens when you put people who are not only unqualified, but just incompetent."

3. Reflections on the UVA Town Hall: The State of Democracy

Time Stamp: [08:02 - 12:54]

Jim Acosta shifts the discussion to a recent town hall at UVA, hosted by Larry Sabato, where attendees voiced deep concerns about the state of American democracy. Tara shares her emotional response to hearing young constituents express fears about the erosion of the rule of law:

"[11:02] Tara Setmayer: ... it may not be as sexy as some of the other things, ... this matters because we really didn't have a good answer start short of like taking up arms to fight back for our country."

Jim Acosta highlights a poignant moment when an 18-year-old questioned the viability of pursuing law in a society where laws might no longer be upheld:

"[10:24] Tara Setmayer: ... I don't want to be part of the generation that let democracy die in America."

Tara emphasizes the responsibility of the current generation to actively defend democracy through community engagement and holding elected officials accountable:

"[12:36] Tara Setmayer: ... we really do have such an incredible responsibility. ... we are simply being asked right now to say, stand up in our own communities and hold our elected officials accountable and demand better from them."

She asserts that defending democracy transcends partisan lines, becoming a universal imperative:

"[12:37] Tara Setmayer: ... this really isn't about left or right anymore. It's about whether you're for democracy or not."

4. Concluding Remarks and Technical Difficulties

Time Stamp: [12:54 - 13:55]

As the show wraps up, Jim Acosta attempts to connect with Alexander Vindman to discuss national security concerns further. However, technical issues prevent Vindman from joining the live broadcast. Despite the challenges, both hosts express their commitment to continuing the dialogue on these critical issues.

"[13:55] Jim Acosta: ... let's try to get Alex Vindman in here because when Alex Vindman talks about national security, people listen."

Key Takeaways

• Signal-Gate Scandal: High-level officials using Signal for sensitive communications represent a significant national security threat, exacerbated by political hypocrisy and incompetence.

• Media's Role: The media, particularly outlets like Fox News, exhibit hypocrisy by promoting secure practices publicly while undermining them privately.

• Democratic Concerns: Young Americans are deeply concerned about the erosion of the rule of law and the future of democracy, necessitating active participation and accountability from current leaders.

• Bipartisan Responsibility: Protecting democracy is a non-partisan issue that requires collective action beyond political affiliations.

Notable Quotes

• "This is a massive security breach. A huge security breach. I've never heard of anything like this." — Jim Acosta [03:33]

• "We really do have such an incredible responsibility. ... we are simply being asked right now to say, stand up in our own communities and hold our elected officials accountable and demand better from them." — Tara Setmayer [12:36]

• "This really isn't about left or right anymore. It's about whether you're for democracy or not." — Tara Setmayer [12:37]

Conclusion

In this episode, Jim Acosta and Tara Setmayer delve into the alarming Signal-gate scandal, exposing the vulnerabilities within the highest levels of government communications. They further explore the pressing concerns about the stability of American democracy, as voiced by the younger generation during the UVA town hall. The discussion underscores the urgent need for accountability, secure communication practices, and a unified effort to preserve democratic institutions.

Transcript

[Jim Acosta]

Hey, welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta Show. For the folks who have been tuning in over the last couple of hours, I'm coming to you live from the grounds of the University of Virginia. I've been told not to call it the campus of the University of Virginia. It's the grounds. And as you can see, I'm joined by Tara Settmeier. Tara. With the Seneca Project. Tara was also part of this great discussion that was here earlier today. Larry Sabato hosting this great. It was almost like a town hall meeting, wasn't it? I mean, the people came and they had great questions. Folks are really worked up and worried about the state of our democracy right now, as they should. And there was a lot to talk about when we were talking about Tara, the big scandal in D.C. right now, Signal gate. You had these top administration officials using a signal group chat to discuss war plans for hitting the Houthis with airstrikes. Let's start there, Tara, because, I mean, you've been in politics for quite a while. You've seen a lot of stuff come and go. What was your reaction to all of that? And there are folks who are chiming in right now. You did a great job, Tara, so congrats.

[Tara Setmayer]

Oh, thank you.

[Jim Acosta]

But let's. We should talk about some news here, because, I mean, that strikes me as like, an unbelievable scandal.

[Tara Setmayer]

That was a. Holy shit. That was my reaction. Okay.

[Jim Acosta]

Yes, exactly.

[Tara Setmayer]

It's too bad it wasn't on Friday, because that would have been your new Friday show that you do.

[Jim Acosta]

Oh, that's right. Epic Friday.

[Tara Setmayer]

That's right, Fridays. And listen, the first thing I thought was, this isn't real. I thought perhaps it was, like, an intellectual exercise because I subscribe to the Atlantic. It's a lovely publication, and it's thriving, by the way. Don't listen to Donald Trump. And sometimes they do, like, these hypotheticals, or they'll do, like, what if kind of a scenario. So at first I had to see. I'm like, is Jeffrey Goldberg kind of messing with us on this? Is this like a joke? And then the more I read it, the more I realized that, no, this actually happened. And I thought to myself, what I remember there was a certain woman running for president who. There were chants of lock her up.

[Jim Acosta]

I was at those rallies.

[Tara Setmayer]

Wait. And I was at the RNC in 2016 in Cleveland, sitting there inside the arena. The last Republican convention I ever attended as a republic in horror, watching. Was it Michael Flynn, I think, who was the one who led that lock her up chant initially? And I Said, oh, my God.

[Jim Acosta]

A retired general.

[Tara Setmayer]

Oh, my God, Yeah. Who, who was, you know, got in a lot of trouble for being a little too friendly with Putin. But anyway, and I just thought to myself, they wanted to put Hillary Clinton in jail over the server issue. And these guys are basically the leaders of our entire intelligence apparatus are hanging out on Signal.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, it's incredible. And apparently they've been trying to excuse this as, oh, well, there wasn't classified information shared. Baloney. I'm sorry. Jeffrey Goldberg has already said that that is not the case. You have Republican leaders like Mike Johnson trying to say, oh, it's not that big of a deal. And they immediately jumped into damage control mode over on FOX to say, oh, the Democrats, the resistance folks, they're trying to make a mountain out of a molehill here. It's all bullshit. I mean, it's absolute bullshit. This was a massive security beach breach. A huge security breach. I've never heard of anything like this.

[Tara Setmayer]

Happening before because no one has ever been in positions of power like this who were this incompetent and this reckless. This is what happens when you put incompetent people who are like a Fox News commentator cosplaying as the Secretary of Defense. This is outrageous. And people should be as horrified and outraged as we are. And as the way it's been covered, which I'm glad to see that in the media that they're. Except for the right wing. And even some people at Fox were stunned because contrary to what a lot of people realize or what they think, there are people at Fox who know better and they just go along for the paycheck because they want to be on TV and be cool in those circles, but underneath, they know. They know. Just like they were the first people to get vaccinated back during COVID But yet they were telling other people that, oh, this isn't the right thing to do. But guess what? Fox News was required. So there's a lot of hypocrisy over there. But when it comes to foreign policy, there are some things there. There are still some foreign policy hawks that totally get why this is terrible. So, I mean, yes, we all love Signal for our own personal Interact, and it's encrypted to a certain level, but it is not anywhere near equipped to handle foreign actors who are professional hackers. That's right into the system. They will break into Signal like that. And to put our whole into intel business on a signal chat like they're planning a bachelor party in Vegas is so irresponsible. It's hard to put into words. It is incredibly damaging to our national security. You're absolutely jail for this. If they did this in any other.

[Jim Acosta]

Administration and they were calling, I mean, a lot of folks have been showing clips of Marco Rubio, Pete hegseth during the 2016 campaign, essentially echoing those Republican talking points and saying, hillary Clinton, you might want to watch out, you might want to get ready for your orange jumpsuit because of what you did with your emails. And now they are. The shoe is very much on the other foot because they're the ones who are in this text thread, you know, chatting like a bunch of college kids talking about March Madness or something. It's absolutely unbelievable. And I was talking to a former Biden administration official who was in the national security community and said, you have to assume that your cell phone, if you're in these kinds of positions, has already been hacked by the Chinese, may have already been hacked by the Russians, and that they're monitoring these communications as we speak. So you could be on signal, but. But they may have a mechanism that's already been installed, some malware that's been installed on your phone that gives the Chinese, gives intelligence people around the world the ability to see what you're doing. Even on things like signal.

[Tara Setmayer]

Yes, 100%. I mean, when I was a congressional staffer, we used to travel on staff delegations and certain countries. You could not take your phone with you. We had like, government issued blackberries and things like that. I was on a staff trip to Taiwan and we had to. We could not bring our government issued phones or we'd have to take the SIM cards out back in the day. BlackBerry. Right. I'm dating myself. But it was like there were very specific protocols because of that. Like, last time I checked, we have a lot of foreign adversaries that want to break into our shit and find out what's going on.

[Jim Acosta]

That's what they do.

[Tara Setmayer]

They don't even really need to do that anymore because it's so out in the open. It's out in the open now, wasn't it? And you could. I think you remember this, Jim, during the first term, wasn't Donald Trump using his own personal phone to communicate?

[Jim Acosta]

He was. He was. And that was, you know, they were all freaked out about that because they were worried that something was gonna take place. So they have known for some time that this is a security issue. That is why you have the Situation Room. That's why you have skiffs. That's why Olivia Troy was talking about this on my show yesterday. That's why they have classified phones that they can take home and have the ability in an emergency to have secure communications. The other thing we should mention is that there was a hearing over in the Senate today on the Intelligence Committee side. They had Tulsi Gabbard there, the dni. She was asked whether or not she was on this text thread. There was a TG initials on the text thread. She would not admit that she was on this. And it just. It's almost. You want to laugh because of the buffoonery, the clownishness and so on, but this is deadly serious. And this is why folks like you, Tara, were saying, tulsi Gabbard, not qualified. Pete Hegseth not qualified, et cetera, et cetera.

[Tara Setmayer]

That's correct. This is what happens when you put people who are not only unqualified, but just incompetent. The level of incompetence. I mean, this would never happen with adults in the room. And anyone who ever says that, well, there's guardrails. That shit is blown through because that argument does not hold water. There are no adults in the room. When Pete Hegseth says that this chat has opsec, are you serious? You don't even know who's on the chat. How do you have operational security and you don't even know who's on the chat? Yeah, that's insane. Where are your. Where are the people around you? You know, some of the. Some of the lower level folks that kind of know this stuff are there to make sure the principal doesn't do things like this. Because sometimes, you know, you're in a new job, you make a mistake. Okay, this is kind of a big one. But where are those people? Where are their. Where are their managers? Like, where are those people?

[Jim Acosta]

These guys could have been in the drive through at Chick Fil A, you know, getting their combo, and meanwhile, they're texting about airstrikes on the Houthis. Tara, I also want to ask you about this town hall that we just had here on the grounds of the University of Virginia with the great Larry Sabato, who has made you and I both scholars. We're both fellows. Or. What is it? I don't even know what it is. I'm now a gentleman and a scholar, apparently.

[Tara Setmayer]

Yeah, always a gentleman and a scholar. Scholar Mr. Jim Acosta.

[Jim Acosta]

But, you know.

[Tara Setmayer]

But now you're officially a University of Virginia scholars.

[Jim Acosta]

You know what these are? These are. I mean, finally, my mother can be proud. But, you know, the thing that I was really Proud of was were the questions that we got from the people in the audience. And I try to put it up on Substack, so forgive me if the quality level was not exactly even C span level. We do the best that we can here on the Jim Acosta show. But I understand some people were able to listen in. The gentleman who asked about the rule of law. Yes, that's the one that stopped me cold. People are so worried about this terror. People are worried about what's going to happen with Donald Trump and his people defying these court orders. When the judge says turn the plane around, they don't turn the plane around. This is just 60 or so days in, we don't know. I mean, people might say, oh gosh, you know, if it gets to the Supreme Court, he'll listen and yada, yada, yada. We don't know. We're only 60 days in, they are already defying a judge's orders.

[Tara Setmayer]

Yeah. This is the part that really, really matters. You know, this may not be as sexy as some of the other things, you know, it may not be the shiniest object, but this matters because we really didn't have a good answer start short of like taking up arms to fight back for our country.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. And I don't want, we don't want to do that. We don't want.

[Tara Setmayer]

Nobody wants that. Right? Nobody wants that. There were two people who, who asked those questions. There was one, he was now it's when it was a freshman, when I was in college, but now it's first year.

[Jim Acosta]

They're very fancy at uva, you know, they're fancy here.

[Tara Setmayer]

So one for one was a first year. And there was also, you know, who wants to go to law school and to hear him say that amongst their friends when he was saying that, you know, when he graduates, he wants to go to law school. If there's still rule of law.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Tara Setmayer]

There was a little part of me that like, if it hurt me, you know, it hurt me to hear an 18 year old kid worrying about, well, should I even bother to go to law school? What if we don't have laws anymore? That is so surreal and it makes me angry and sad at the same time. Like that inspires me to want to fight for them, you know what I mean? Like, we have to fight not only for us in the present, but we've got to fight for our younger generation, man. You know, I said during the town hall, I don't want to be part of the generation that let democracy die in America.

[Jim Acosta]

I love that comment, that was a great comment, you know, and that's what it's all about.

[Tara Setmayer]

I wrote this in my substack last week where my substack uncompromised shameless plug. But I was just thinking about this, like, we have such an incredible responsibility. We, unlike our grandparents and our. And our great grandparents, are not being asked to cross oceans and storm the beaches of Normandy to fight for democracy. We are simply being asked right now to say, stand up in our own communities and hold our elected officials accountable and demand better from them. Demand it because they work for us then. And. And this is what it's going to take. It really does take amassing the righteous anger of the American people. And that's on all that's across the board. That's not a partisan issue.

[Jim Acosta]

It's happening.

[Tara Setmayer]

Right? That's. That's not a partisan issue. This really isn't even about, like you said, which I appreciated that comment. It's not about left or right anymore. It's about whether you're for democracy or not. And that's the decision we have to make as a country. We really do. Because once it's gone, I don't know that we're ever getting it back.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, Tara, I promise to not hold you up too long. I know you're going to go see a common friend of ours. I love all the UVA stuff that you have on. I love the Seneca Project hat they have on and the colors of my alma mater, jmu, which I have to. I have to whisper here on the grounds of uva. They might have take issue with that.

[Tara Setmayer]

But as long as that Duke, you know, your dog. We had to make that in the beginning of the conversation today. Some folks were asking about Duke. I could hear the gasps in the audience and they were like, no, it's the dog.

[Jim Acosta]

It's not the Blue Devils. I promise. I promise. Well, Tara, it's always great to talk to you and it was great to be together in person. We don't get to do that enough.

[Tara Setmayer]

But I know I've missed you and I'm glad that we get to be together. And, you know, I've been a scholar here since 2020. Larry Sabito won't let me leave. Not that I want to, but it is really an honor and a pleasure to be a part of the UVA family and the center for Politics. Larry's great, and everyone's so excited to have you as part of us. You fit. You fit right in with us here at, at the center for Politics. So thrilled to have you. There'll be more.

[Jim Acosta]

Absolutely. Well, great to see you, Tara. Thank you so much. The great Tara Settmeier. Really appreciate it. You are the best. And let's do it again real soon. I'm going to bring in Alexander Vindman. I think he was just trying to message me. Alex is not here on the grounds of uva, but he is very concerned about this situation. And Alex and I were texting one another. Not on a secure platform, I should mention, but secure enough for us. Somebody saying go, Professor Acosta. You got that right. Professor Acosta is holding a class here right now in trying to do television through the substack machine, I think. Alex Vindman, are you there? I see only a black hole at this point. Let's try one more time. Hang on a second, Alex, Let me bring you back in one more time. I don't see him just yet. Stand by, folks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But we're going to keep trying to get Alex Vindman in here because when Alex Vindman talks about national security, people listen. And I know he. He was just hopping mad about this. Alex, are you there? I don't see Alex there. Alex, I don't think what's happening on your end is working. Let's see. Do you guys. Do the folks at home see him? That's. I guess that's one thing to ask. Maybe the folks at home see him. I don't hear Alex, though. That's the only thing. Let's try it one more time or. Alex, if you want to send me, send me an invitation. Yeah, let's see. Remove him from the live video. Nope, don't see him just yet. I don't see him just yet. Let's see one more time here. I think he tried to reach me as I was. Oh, here we go. Alex has sent. That's to join his live video. Hold on, Alex, I think you have to join. Let's see here. What will happen? What will happen if I join Alex live video? I don't know what will happen if I. I think that might be the issue. Alex, if you're listening, you might not be able to send me an invitation while I'm sending you an invitation. That might be it. Let's see here. Stand by, everybody. This is what we're trying. Well, let's see here. Sometimes it's not a signal chat. It's not as simple as a signal chat, you know, it's not a text thread on signal. So let's see. I don't see him there, though. All right, Alex, if you can hear me, you send me your invitation, and I'll see if it works. We'll see if it works. And if it just completely crashes, everybody, forgive us. I'm not in my studio. I'm at uva. Let's see. Let's see what happens. He sent me. He sent me an invite. Let's just see what happens. Join Live Video. Alex, are you there? We might be crossing too many streams at once on the substack machine. My live video invite has expired. I don't know, Alex. I think you have to wait for me to invite you. Let's see here. That didn't work. Well, folks, you know what? We might. Let me just. Let's just try this. I think I. Somebody just said. Yes, it. It paused your live video. I think that's exactly what happened there. Yeah. Tech support on line one. Somebody is saying, I don't think it's happening. All right, we're going to end this broadcast. I'm going to try to get Alex. We'll do another broadcast with Alex. Standby.