A glitch, a mistake, a mountain out of a molehill.
These were just some of the terms used by US President Donald Trump and his supporters to downplay the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a chat group - of more than a dozen top-level US officials - discussing plans for military strikes on Yemen.
When The Atlantic magazine broke the story on Monday, it was indisputably a bombshell - and arguably the first real test of Mr Trump’s second term.
As Washington shook with the sound of jaws hitting the floor, the administration mustered its response, first pinning the blame firmly on the journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, by insinuating that he had deliberately and sneakily slid into the chat.
Mr Goldberg was "a total sleazebag" from a "failing magazine," said President Trump.
He was "a loser," according to national security advisor Mike Waltz, which, it turned out, was the name in the Signal chat that invited Goldberg to join. Mr Waltz denied knowing Mr Goldberg.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth went further.
Mr Goldberg was "a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again," he told reporters.
And anyway, administration officials argued, there was no classified information shared, so it didn’t matter.
Perhaps they thought that would be the end of it. But far from it.
On Wednesday morning, The Atlantic published the whole chat, urging readers to decide for themselves whether the exchange included classified information.
Screenshots revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent texts to the group detailing timings of the forthcoming attacks, as well as specific military equipment involved.
"Weather is FAVORABLE," he wrote, "just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM, we are a GO for missile launch."
Soon after, Mr Hegseth wrote: "1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)"
He added: "1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based’ targets)".
Vice President JD Vance texted that he would "say a prayer for victory".
Later, when the deed was apparently done, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz texted a series of emojis featuring a fist bump, an American flag and a flame.
Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee zeroed in on the details of the attack plans in their cross-examination of senior administration officials, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe (both reportedly members of the Signal chat group), as well as FBI director Kash Patel.
"The idea that this information, if it was presented to our committee, would not be classified - y’all know it was a lie," Congressman Joaquin Castro said.
"And to say that it isn’t is a lie to the country," he added.
Defense Secretary Hegseth had "disclosed military plans as well as classified information" said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.
"He needs to resign immediately, and a full investigation needs to be undertaken with regard to whether other similar Signal chats are occurring in this administration," he told the committee.
Things got heated with Congressman Jimmy Gomez asked whether Mr Hegseth had been drinking when he sent the text messages.
"I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits," Ms Gabbard diplomatically responded.
But CIA Director John Ratcliffe was incensed.
"That’s an offensive line of questioning, the answer’s no," he said before the two men began to shout at each other.
By Wednesday afternoon the White House had shifted its position somewhat.
Certainly, attacks on the journalist kept up.
Mr Goldberg was an "anti-Trump hater," who "loves manufacturing and pushing hoaxes," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her daily briefing.
Other journalists even got it in the neck for daring to ask whether the chat had put American lives at risk.
"Nobody gives a crap about your opinion or your reporting," Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene snapped at British Sky News reporter Martha Kelner.
"Why don’t you go back to your country where you have a major migrant problem?" she went on.
But the focus was moving - away from the content of the messages and towards the purported "success" of the strikes on Houthi targets as well as the alleged failings of political opponents.
The Signal chat revealed that a "top missile guy" had been killed in a strike of "his girlfriend’s building".
The Houthi-run health ministry in Yemen said 31 people had been killed in US bombing raids that day, including women and children, and that more than 100 people had been wounded.
"What we should be talking about is it was a very successful mission," said the Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Signal chat was unlikely to be investigated by the Department of Justice, she said.
"If you want to talk about classified information, talk about what was in Hillary Clinton’s home," she added, referring to the political firestorm that engulfed the former secretary of state over her use of private emails for official business.
At the height of that political scandal in 2016, Pete Hegseth, then a Fox News commentator said that any security professional, military, government or otherwise "would be fired on the spot for this type of conduct".
Mr Waltz and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio made similar comments.
That was at the forefront of Mrs Clinton’s mind, it seemed, when she penned an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday entitled: "How much dumber will this get?"
"It’s not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it’s the stupidity," she wrote.
Senior Trump administration officials "put our troops in jeopardy," she wrote, "by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat."
It wasn't just dangerous, she wrote, it was "dumb".
As the first opinion polls on the matter rolled in, it seemed that quite a lot of Americans agreed with her.
A YouGov poll found that 53% of adults surveyed considered the matter "very serious" - including a third of Republicans.
There were also rumblings of disquiet in the military ranks. Off-the-record interviews with a number of fighter pilots, published by the New York Times, found some no longer had confidence that the Pentagon was focused on their safety.
Republican members of congress also chimed in. Senators on the Armed Services Committee requested a formal enquiry.
But others disagreed.
"It’s time to move on," said Republican Senator Kevin Cramer.
"The facts are not going to change - I don’t know that there are any more that could be revealed," he said.
By the end of the week, no heads had rolled and it certainly seemed like the administration was moving on.
JD Vance went to Greenland – a territory President Trump has vowed to take over.
Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, flew to Asia and announced the deployment of another American missile system in the Philippines - to "reestablish deterrence" and counter "China’s aggression" in the region.
By the time they get back to Washington, Signalgate may have blown over.
But this was the first major test for the new Trump team, and it won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
