Trump administration plays defense after intelligence leak of US airstrikes on Yemen
The Trump administration officials offered a range of responses, from downplaying to denouncing the intelligence breach involving U.S. war plans in Yemen.
The Trump administration officials offered a range of responses, from downplaying to denouncing the intelligence breach involving U.S. war plans in Yemen.
The Trump administration officials offered a range of responses, from downplaying to denouncing the intelligence breach involving U.S. war plans in Yemen.
The Trump administration is playing defense following an intelligence leak involving U.S. war plans in Yemen. The messages on planned airstrikes were accidentally shared with an American journalist in a group chat on the messaging app Signal.
Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added him to the chat with other top-level security officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Goldberg claims the chat contained "operational details" of strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which took place just two hours after the plans were made. The timeline of events, Goldberg says, confirmed to him that the texts were real.
The White House National Security Council also said the exchanges appear to be authentic and is now looking into the matter.
The breach has raised questions over privacy concerns, particularly the use of Signal and similar messaging tools that are not classified and can be hacked.
"It seemed improbable to me because why would they do it on Signal?" Goldberg said in a TV interview. "Why would they do this on a messaging app, and why would they invite the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to watch?"
When asked, Trump administration officials offered a range of responses, from downplaying to denouncing the incident.
"I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic. It's a magazine that's going out of business," President Donald Trump said when pressed by reporters Monday. "I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it." The president later mocking the publication.
"This is the guy that peddles in garbage. This is what he does," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said when asked about Goldberg's reporting. "Nobody was texting war plans, and that's all I have to say about that."
Bipartisan lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the apparent breach. Democrats described the incident as a "major screw-up," while Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a "terrible mistake" but noted that the "mission was accomplished."
By law, any confidential information cannot be shared on unsecured apps like Signal. The Biden administration confirmed that officials used it to schedule meetings or phone calls to discuss sensitive information or notify someone to check their inbox for a classified message.
Under the Espionage Act, anyone who mishandles national defense or classified information can be prosecuted for a crime. The Justice Department previously investigated Hillary Clinton for communicating about classified information on a private email server, an issue Trump and Republicans have criticized her for ever since. Clinton on Monday, commenting, "You have got to be kidding me."
Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was allegedly on that Signal text chain and is expected to appear at Tuesday morning.