WASHINGTON: The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published what it said was the entire text of a chat group mistakenly shared with a journalist by top US national security officials laying out plans of an imminent attack on Yemen.
\nThe stunning details, including the times of strikes and types of planes being used, were all laid out in screenshots of the chat, which the officials had conducted on a commercial Signal messaging app, rather than a secure government platform.
\nThe magazine, which initially only published the broad outlines of the chat, said it was now publishing the details after the Trump administration confirmed it was genuine and repeatedly denied that any classified information had been included.
\nThe scandal has rocked President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, which for now is reacting defiantly \u2014 attacking The Atlantic and denying any wrongdoing.
\nNational Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes had said Monday the chain cited by The Atlantic appeared to be \u201cauthentic.\u201d
\nHowever, Vice President JD Vance, who was on the Signal chat, said The Atlantic had \u201coversold\u201d the story, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said \u201cthe entire story was another hoax.\u201d
\nNational Security Adviser Mike Waltz likewise insisted on X that the Signal chain revealed \u201cno locations\u201d and \u201cNO WAR PLANS.\u201d
\nHowever, the depth of detail in the now published chat will fuel a furious outcry from Democrats in Congress who are accusing the Trump officials of incompetence and putting US military operations in peril.
\nThe House of Representatives was set to discuss the scandal in a hearing Wednesday.
\nThe story first broke Monday when Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent information in the Signal chat about imminent strikes against the Houthi rebels on March 15.
\nFor reasons unknown, Goldberg\u2019s phone number had been added to the group, also including Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, among others.
\nGoldberg also revealed disparaging comments by the top US officials about European allies during their chat.
\nThe Atlantic initially did not publish the precise details of the chat, saying it wanted to avoid revealing classified material and information that could endanger American troops.
\nBut on Tuesday, Ratcliff and other officials involved in the chat played down the scandal, testifying before Congress that nothing critical had been shared or laws broken \u2014 and that nothing discussed was classified.
\nTrump himself brushed the breach off as a \u201cglitch\u201d and said there was \u201cno classified information\u201d involved.
\nThe Atlantic said on Wednesday that it therefore asked the government whether in that case there would be any problem in publishing the rest of the material. It got no firm indications to the contrary.
\nThe Atlantic said its full publication Wednesday included everything in the Signal chain other than one CIA name that the agency had asked not to be revealed.
\nThe text discussion includes Hegseth laying out the weather conditions, times of attacks and types of aircraft being used.
\nThe texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off and two hours before the first target, described as \u201cTarget Terrorist,\u201d was expected to be bombed.
\nThe details are shockingly precise for the kind of operation that the public usually only learns about later \u2014 and in vaguer terms.
\n\u201c1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package),\u201d Hegseth writes at one stage.
\n\u201c1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier \u2018Trigger Based\u2019 targets).\u201d
\nA short time later, Trump\u2019s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing \u201cBuilding collapsed. Had multiple positive ID\u201d and \u201camazing job.\u201d
\nThe Houthis, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the \u201caxis of resistance\u201d of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US.
\nThe Trump administration has stepped up attacks on the group in response to constant Houthi attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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