Several Trump administration officials have pushed back on reporting from the Atlantic that classified intelligence was shared in the Signal group chat many of them used to discuss military operations in Yemen.
The U.S. National Security Council affirmed on Monday the editor-in-chief from the outlet was inadvertently added to the group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, but by Tuesday, disputed the journalist’s account of the messages included in it. Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, said he left out specific messages from the article, particularly from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, due to the sensitive nature of the conversation.
Two members of the chat, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, coincidentally were scheduled to testify on Tuesday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the subject of the Signal group chat dominated the hearing.
Lawmakers, in reacting to the administration’s argument that classified intelligence was not shared in this chat, urged them to release the entirety of the chat.
“If it’s not classified, again, we’d ask you — give it to the public today,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said during Tuesday’s hearing. “If you’ve got it here and it’s not classified, stand by your position. Or is this just one more example of a careless approach to how we keep our secrets in this administration?”
Similarly, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) urged the administration to release the text thread “so that the public can have a view of what actually transpired.”
JEFFREY GOLDBERG SAYS HEGSETH LIED IN DISMISSING INTELLIGENCE LEAK
Ratcliffe confirmed that he was added to the group chat, and he said no classified intelligence was shared. Gabbard did not confirm her inclusion in the chat, though she also noted no classified intelligence was shared. They largely declined to answer questions from lawmakers.
“I believe there was discussion of targets in general,” Gabbard acknowledged, while Ratcliffe said her answer is “consistent with my recollection.”
The National Security Council is investigating how Goldberg’s number was accidentally included in the chat.
The former Hawaii lawmaker also noted that Hegseth was the “original classifying authority” on the chat.
“At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled ‘Pete Hegseth’ posted in Signal a ‘TEAM UPDATE.’ I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility,” the Atlantic reported. “What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
Hegseth denied the story on Monday night and denigrated the reporter even after the National Security Council confirmed that it “appears” to be authentic.
President Donald Trump has defended his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, the official believed to be responsible for accidentally adding Goldberg to the chat.
The president told NBC News that Waltz “has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” adding that this was the “only glitch in two months and turned out not to be a serious one.”
“1. No ‘war plans’ were discussed,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on social media Tuesday morning, adding, “2. No classified material was sent to the thread.” She also criticized Goldberg, saying he is “well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
FBI Director Kash Patel, who also testified in front of the intelligence committee, declined to say publicly whether the bureau would investigate the incident. He was asked whether the journalist could face legal liability if he released the information and it was ultimately, in fact, classified material, and he deferred to the Department of Justice.
