White House in damage control after accidental journalist leak in military chat
The White House is scrambling to contain the fallout after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat where top U.S. officials were reportedly discussing sensitive military plans.
(NBC)- The White House is scrambling to contain the fallout after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat where top U.S. officials were reportedly discussing sensitive military plans. The chat, which took place on the unclassified commercial messaging app Signal, included discussions about bombing Iranian-backed forces in Yemen earlier this month.
Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, says he was mistakenly added by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Goldberg took screenshots of the messages, which he says included participation from Vice President J.D. Vance, Waltz, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “These are life-and-death issues,” Goldberg emphasized. Hegseth has attempted to discredit Goldberg’s account, dismissing the notion that classified war plans were shared. “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth stated.
However, Goldberg disputes that claim, asserting that some of the details shared in the chat were too sensitive to quote directly. “I will describe them to you—the specific time of a future attack, specific targets, including human targets meant to be killed, and weapon systems,” Goldberg said. “It was a minute-by-minute accounting of what was about to happen.”
The National Security Council acknowledged that the chat “appears to be authentic” but insisted that “there were no threats to our service members or our national security.” Despite that assurance, 14 Senate Democrats have sent a letter to President Trump demanding answers. Trump denied any knowledge of the situation when questioned.“I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expressing deep concern. “It is by the grace of God that we don’t have dead pilots and failed missions,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT). Republican Senator Roger Wicker, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed his committee will investigate the incident. “It’s definitely a concern, and it appears that mistakes were made, no question,” Wicker said.
