Newly released messages Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared with the Signal chat group about “war plans” in Yemen have been published in full.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, who was inadvertently added to the Signal chat group discussing sensitive military operations, has published the messages in full after the White House and senior U.S. officials repeatedly claimed the messages did not contain classified information.
The messages from Hegseth, sent on March 15, the day of the attack, contain a detailed timeline of when U.S. forces would strike in Yemen, the target and the type of weapons they would use.
After the messages were published, Karoline Leavitt issued another denial. “The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans,’” Leavitt said in a post on X. “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
Hegseth shared the plan approximately two hours before the bombs dropped in Yemen, The Atlantic reported.
Those featured in the chat include Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, CIA director John Ratcliffe and Vice President JD Vance, who were among those interacting with Hegseth when he shared the plans. There were 19 members in the chat group, according to the screenshots published by The Atlantic.
“If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds,” Goldberg writes. “The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic.”
The White House said it objected to the release of the messages in a statement to The Atlantic.
At 1:48 p.m., Waltz then sent real-time intelligence about the attack site, confirming one of the targets had collapsed, the outlet reported.
The vice president praised the group following the confirmation, and Waltz responded with emojis.
Screenshots of the messages were published by The Atlantic and show a contact named “Michael Waltz” added Goldberg to the group. It also showed that messages in the end-to-end encrypted app were initially set to disappear after one week. After Hegseth sent the plans, the settings were changed by Waltz so that messages would disappear after four weeks.
Waltz said Monday that he was investigating how Goldberg had gained access to the chat.
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Source: independent.co.uk