Washington-the most vital national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his secretary of defense, wrote to war plans about upcoming military strikes in Yemen on a group chat in a safe application for sending a message, which included the editor-in-chief to the Atlantic, informed WA magazine History published online Monday. The National Security Council said that the text chain “seems to be authentic.”
Trump initially told journalists that he was not aware that very confidential information was made available, 2 1/2 hours after their notification. Later he seemed to be joking about the violation.
The material in the text chain “contained operational details of the upcoming strikes for Iran Houth-plals in Yemen, In this information about the goals, the weapons that the US would arrange, and sequencing of the attack “-Donosi editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
It was not immediately clear whether the details of the military operation were classified, but they are often and at least they are safe to protect members of the service and operational security. The US has carried out raids against Houthi, since a group of fighters began to attack commercial and military ships in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Just two hours after Goldberg received details Attack on March 15The United States began to start a series of raids against Houthi goals in Yemen.
The National Security Council is analyzing this matter
The National Security Council stated in a statement that it analyzes how the journalist’s number was added to the chain in the chat of the signal group. In addition to the Secretary of Defense Pete HegeSth, he included vice president JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard, director of the National Intelligence Trump.
Goldberg said he had received an invitation to a signal from Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor, who was also in group chat.
In his first comments, Hegeth attacked Goldberg as “crafty” and “discredited so -called journalist”, referring to the previous critical reporting of Trump from the publication. He did not shed delicate on why the signal was used to discuss a sensitive operation or how Goldberg was on the message chain.
“Nobody wrote the SMS of war plans and that’s all I have to say about it,” HegeSeth said in exchange with reporters after landing in Hawaii on Monday, when he goes to Indo-Pacific during the first foreign journey as a defense secretary.
In a statement at the end of Monday, a spokeswoman for the White House Karoline Leavitt said that the president has “the highest trust” in Waltz and the National Security Team.
Earlier on Monday, Trump told journalists: “I don’t know anything about it. You tell me for the first time.” He added that the Atlantic was “little magazine”.
Early in the evening, the president jokingly threw him aside. He strengthened the publishing of social media from Elon Musk, which distinguishes a conservative article satirical information service with the header: “4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans” The Atlantic “, in which no one will see them”.
District officials have used a signal to organizational correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hated. Privacy and technology experts say that the popular comprehensive encrypted message and a voice connection application is safer than conventional SMSs.
The reaction flew quickly
Sharing confidential information appears when the HegeSeth office has just announced Destruction of leaks sensitive information, including the potential employ of variography in the defense staff in order to determine how the reporters received information.
Sean Parnell, a spokesman for HegeSetha, did not immediately answer the requests for a comment, why the defense secretary published war plans in an unclassified application.
Support for administration of very confidential information was quickly condemned by democratic legislators. The leader of the Democratic Senate Chuck Schumer called for a full investigation.
“This is one of the most stunning violations of military intelligence, which I read about for a very, long time,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat on Monday afternoon.
“If this is true, this story is one of the most glaring failures of operational security and common sense I’ve ever seen,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the highest democrat in the Senate Armed Services Commission.
He said that American life is “on the line. The carelessness shown by Trump’s office is stunning and dangerous. I will immediately look for administration answers.”
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the highest democrat in the House intelligence committee, said in a statement that he was “terrified” with reports.
Himes said that if an official with a lower rank “did what was described here, they would probably lose their permission and were subject to criminal investigation. The American people deserve answers”, which, as he said, plans to get to the Wednesday planned hearings of the Commission.
Some Republicans also expressed fears.
Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican Mississippi, who chaired the Senate to the Armed committee, told journalists on Monday: “We are very concerned about this and we will deal with it on the basis of bilateral.”
Reed said he would talk to Wicker about what the committee will do to “follow” signal leakage.
The leader of the majority of Senate, John Thune, said he wanted to learn more about what happened.
“Of course, we have to lead him to Earth, find out what was happening there,” said Thune, a Republican from southern Dakota.
Mike Johnson, marshal of the Republican House, proposed a clearly forgiving attitude.
“I think it would be a terrible mistake because it would be negative consequences for each of the people involved in this call,” said Johnson. “They tried to do a good job, the mission was done with precision.”
There are strict regulations regarding the service of defense information
Support for information on national defense is subject to strictly in accordance with the law on the basis of a century -old espionage law, including provisions that make the crime to remove such information from the “proper care place”, even through the act of gross neglect.
The Department of Justice in 2015 and 2016 studied whether the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law, communicating about classified information with her helpers on the E -Mail private server, which she established, although the FBI finally recommended the allegations.
In Biden administration, some officials received permission to download the signal to telephones issued by the White House, but were instructed to employ the application sparingly, according to a former national security officer who served in the democratic administration.
An official who asked for anonymity about talking about the methods used to provide confidential information, said that the signal was most often used to convey what they called “tippers” to inform someone when he was away from the office or traveled abroad that they should check their “high page” in terms of message.
The application was sometimes used by officials during Biden administration to communicate about planning sensitive meetings or secret telephone calls, when they were outside the office, said the official.
According to the official, the employ of a signal has become more common during the last year of Biden administration after federal law enforcement officers warned that China and Iran have hacked the White House, as well as officials in the first Trump administration.
The official was not aware of the leading biden administration officials – such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and national security advisor Jake Sullivan – using a signal to discuss sensitive plans, such as Trump administration officials.
Some of the most challenging criticisms directed HegeSeth, former weekend host of Fox News Channel. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran of the war in Iraq, said in social media that HegeSeth, “the most under -qualified secretary of defense in history, demonstrates his incompetence through literally leaking war plans in group chat.”
The leak reveals an internal debate on Houthi surgery
Vance in the news chain asked if the Americans would understand the importance of strikes related to the risk of “moderate to a hard increase in oil prices” and whether the time of surgery could be a “mistake”.
“I am ready to support the band’s consensus and keep these fears to myself,” Vance argued. “But there is a strong argument with this delay this month, making news about why it matters, checking where the economy is, etc.”
Vance also decided that Europe would benefit much more than the USA thanks to the action aimed at decimaling Houthi and securing the sailing belts from the Red Sea.
“If you think we should do it, come. I hate to save Europe again,” Vance said forward with HegeSeth.
“I fully divide your hatred of European free charging. It’s pathetic,” HegeSeth replied. He added: “I think we should go.”
The communication director of the vice president, William Martin, disregarded the debate in a statement. He said that Vance “clearly supports the foreign policy of this administration.”
