A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to preserve chats conducted by senior officials via the Signal messaging app, including messages mistakenly shared with a reporter earlier this month concerning an imminent military operation in Yemen.

US District Judge James Boasberg issued the ruling on Thursday at the request of a transparency group that sued, alleging the app’s auto-delete function risked destroying the messages in violation of the Federal Records Act.

During a brief afternoon hearing, Justice Department lawyer Amber Richer told Boasberg such an order was unnecessary because the relevant agencies were already taking steps to preserve the records. However, she did not object to the judge reinforcing this with a court order.

“We are still in the process of working with the agencies to determine what records they have, but we are also working with the agencies to preserve the records they do possess,” Richer said.

However, the government lawyer appeared to acknowledge a court filing made earlier in the day by a Treasury Department official, which suggested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent currently possesses only a portion of the message chain related to the Yemen strike.

The journalist added to the message chain, The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that the chat began on March 11. Yet, Bessent only has messages starting from the afternoon of March 15. It remains unclear why Bessent failed to preserve the earlier messages or whether other senior officials in the chat retained them.

Richer stated to Boasberg, “I want to note that we are still determining what records the agencies possess.”

The Atlantic published parts of the messages earlier this week and the remainder on Wednesday after the White House stated it did not consider the exchanges classified, even though they described the scope and timeline of a military operation that had not yet occurred.

According to The Atlantic‘s report, national security adviser Mike Waltz, who initiated the exchange, had initially set the messages to auto-delete after one week but later changed the duration to four weeks.

Speaking from the bench, Boasberg ordered the defendants in the case—Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe—”to preserve all Signal communications between March 11 and March 15.”

This directive appears broader than just the messages shared with Goldberg; it could encompass other Signal messages sent or received by the officials during that period.

A Pentagon lawyer also submitted a written declaration stating the Defense Department was attempting to preserve these records as well but did not claim any records had been recovered. The administration suggested that The Atlantic‘s publication of the entire exchange, except for the redaction of a CIA officer’s name, ensured the messages’ preservation.

At the start of the hearing, Boasberg also responded to a social media post by President Donald Trump suggesting the judge had improperly gained control of the politically sensitive case.

Trump had called it “shameful” that the judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was handling multiple legal cases involving the White House in recent weeks. In addition to the Signal case, Boasberg is presiding over a case involving Trump’s efforts to rapidly deport people using the Alien Enemies Act.

Boasberg addressed the matter, stating he “understood some questions had been raised” about how the court assigns cases. He explained that for the 15 active judges serving on the court, cases are randomly assigned across various categories in nearly all instances “to ensure a more even distribution of cases.”

Clerks use an electronic deck of cards within each category to determine which judge receives a newly filed case.

“That is how it works, and that is how all cases continue to be assigned in this court,” said Boasberg, who has served as the court’s chief judge since 2023.

US President Donald Trump announced that a 25% customs tariff will be applied to cars imported into the US.

Effective from April 2, the taxes also include car parts not produced in the US.

The President stated that the tariffs will be “permanent,” adding that there is nothing that would necessitate the removal of the import taxes.

Trump told reporters, “We will apply a 25% customs duty, but if you produce your car in the US, there is no customs duty. This means that many foreign car companies will be in a very good position because they have already established their facilities in the US.”

In a fact sheet released after Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office, the White House stated that car parts compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement would remain exempt from customs duties “until Customs and Border Protection establishes a process to apply customs duties to their content outside the US.”

The US International Trade Commission examined in early 2024 the potential consequences if the government implemented comprehensive automotive tariffs. According to the report, a 25% customs duty applied to all US car imports would reduce imports by approximately 74% and increase average car prices by 5%.

Although President Trump’s increase in customs duties on imported vehicles will primarily affect foreign automakers, domestic automakers General Motors and Ford will also face a significant impact.

According to research by Wards Automotive and Barclays, Volvo (13%), Mazda (19%), and Volkswagen (21%) produce the lowest share of their vehicles sold in the US within the country.

Hyundai-Kia (33%), Mercedes (43%), BMW (48%), and Toyota (48%) also produce less than half of the vehicles they sell in the US domestically.

According to the Department of Transportation, examples of significant 2025 models imported into the US include the Ford Maverick pickup, Chevrolet Blazer crossover, Hyundai Venue crossover, Nissan Sentra compact car, Porsche 911 sports car, and Toyota Prius hybrid.

Approximately 45% of vehicles sold in the US are imported, with the largest share originating from Mexico and Canada.

According to data from the American Automobile Labeling Act, every 2025 model year vehicle sources at least 20% of its content from countries outside the US and Canada.

The location of a chest believed to contain the Ten Commandments has long been a mystery, but CIA documents claim the Ark of the Covenant has been found.

According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built by the Israelites shortly after their escape from Egypt in the 13th century BC. Moses later placed the Ten Commandments inside it.

In the 1980s, the CIA conducted experiments with individuals claiming they could perceive information about distant objects, events, or other people.

This CIA document, a remnant of the mysterious Project Sun Streak, suggests the US government has known the Ark’s location for years. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other intelligence agencies, including the CIA, reportedly used individuals “claimed to have paranormal abilities” to gather intelligence on “remote events.”

Project Sun Streak used psychics known as “remote viewers” to gather intelligence about targets using only coordinates. The premise was that remote viewers could project their consciousness beyond their bodies to observe a distant location.

The report details one of these tests where “Remote Viewer number 032” was given coordinates to locate a target, and these coordinates described the Ark of the Covenant hidden in the Middle East.

The psychic described buildings resembling nearby mosque domes and people “dressed almost entirely in white,” with “black hair and dark eyes.”

The psychic said, “The target is protected by entities and can currently only be opened by those authorized to do so; this container will not/cannot be opened until the time is deemed right.”

The psychic continued, saying that when that time comes, “the mechanics of the locking system will be seen to be quite simple” and anyone trying to open the container out of curiosity or by force “will be destroyed by the container’s guardians using a power unknown to us.”

Some historians believe the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the “Holy of Holies,” the innermost chamber of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem, before disappearing during the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

There is also a legend that the artifact was taken to Ethiopia and is now housed in a local church there.

Proof of the Ark’s existence has not yet been found, but the CIA document, declassified in 2000, claims it was discovered in 1988.

The document states, “The target is a container. Inside this container is another container. The target is made of wood… gold and silver… and decorated with a six-winged angel.”

The “remote viewer” continued, saying the coffin-shaped object was “located somewhere in the Middle East” and that they saw Arabic-speaking people in the area, although the remote viewer was not told they were searching for the lost ark before the experiment began.

According to Biblical history, this sacred, gold-covered wooden chest was made around 1445 BC.

The CIA reportedly utilized these psychics for a wide range of operations, from “locating hostages kidnapped by Islamist terrorist groups to tracking fugitive criminals within the US.”

The project known as Sun Streak gained public attention after being featured in a recent episode of the Ninjas are Butterflies podcast. Podcast host Josh Hooper mentioned he initially dismissed Project Sun Streak as “fake” until discovering the document on the CIA.gov website.

Hooper asked, “I thought… ‘What am I looking at?'”

The document also describes a training exercise conducted on December 5, 1988. The psychic projected their consciousness beyond their body to search for the sacred artifact, writing down observations as they progressed.