So about that signal chat.
Shortly after publishing the story of a massive Trump administration security breaches on Monday, reporters asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, who is the reason they shared plans for upcoming attacks on Yemen on their signal messaging app. He replied, “No one had texted the war plan, and that’s all I have to say about it.”
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At a Senate hearing yesterday, National Intelligence Director Tarsi Gabbard and Central Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe were asked about the signal chat, both Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, who was misinformed by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. “There was no classification material shared in that signal group,” Gabbard told members of the Senate Intelligence Email Committee.
Ratcliffe said, “To be clear, my communication, it was completely acceptable, legal in the signalling messaging group and did not contain any sorted information.”
President Donald Trump asked about the same issue yesterday afternoon, saying, “It wasn’t classified information.”
These statements presented us with a dilemma. In the first story of The Atlantic, the “Houthi PC Small Group,” a “Houthi PC Small Group,” named by Waltz, withheld certain information related to the weapon and timing of the attack found in certain text. As a general rule, we will not release information about military operations if that information could put the lives of US personnel at risk. Therefore, we decided to characterize the nature of the information being shared rather than the specific details about the attack.
Statements from Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe and Trump accompanied the allegations made by many administration officials that we were lying about the content of the signal text, which led people to believe that they should look at the text to reach their conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the kind of information that includes Trump’s advisors on unsecured communications channels, particularly as senior manager figures try to underestimate the importance of shared messages.
Experts have repeatedly said that using signal chat for such sensitive discussions poses a threat to national security. As an example, Goldberg received information about the attack two hours before the scheduled start of Hooty’s bombing. This information, especially if an American aircraft were taking off for Yemen, fell into the wrong hands during that important two-hour period, could have put American pilots and other American staff at even greater risk than they normally face. The Trump administration has argued that the military information contained in these texts is not generally classified as such, but the president has not explained how he came to this conclusion.
Yesterday we asked officials from the entire Trump administration if they opposed the release of the full text. In an email to the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Intelligence Director, the National Security Council, the Department of Defense and the White House, “In light of statements from several administrative officials before the Senate Intelligence Email Committee, signal chain information regarding the Houthi strike is not classified and may not contain war plans.
We sent our first request for comments and feedback to National Security officials in the afternoon and followed up in the evening after failing most of our responses.
Later yesterday, White House Press Director Karoline Leavitt sent an email with a response. “As I reiterated, there was no information classified as a group chat. But as CIA directors and national security advisors express today, it does not mean that they encourage the release of conversations. I oppose the release.” (Leavitt’s statement did not address which elements of the text the White House considers sensitive, or what their publications could be related to national security more than a week after the initial air hit.)
A CIA spokesman asked to withhold the name of John Ratcliffe’s Chief of Staff, which Ratcliffe shared in the signal chain, as CIA intelligence officers have not traditionally been publicly identified. Ratcliffe testified yesterday that the officers were not covered, saying it was “completely appropriate” to share their names in signal conversations. We will continue to withhold the names of officers. Otherwise, the message has not been edited.
As I wrote Monday, much of the conversation in “The Houthi PC Small Group” revolved around the timing and rationale of the attack on Houthis, including comments by Trump officials about the shortcomings of American European allies. However, on the day of the attack – March 15th, March 15th, and the day of the attack, the debate was heading towards operation.
At 11:44am Eastern time, Hegses posted to all caps on chat, “Team Update:”
The text below this is “Now (1144et): The weather has improved. Make sure it is confirmed on Centcom. Centcom, or Central Command, is a fighting order for the Middle Eastern army. The Hegseth text continues:
To highlight the point, let’s pause for a moment. The signal message indicates that the US Secretary of Defense sent a text message to a group containing a phone number that is unknown to him (Goldberg’s mobile phone). If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests, or simply ignored and accompanied by access to social media, Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their base. The outcome of the American pilot may have been devastating.
The Hegseth text continued.
Shortly afterwards, Vice President JD Vance texted the group saying, “I will say a prayer for victory.”
At 1:48pm, Waltz sent the following text, apparently containing real-time intelligence on the conditions at Sanaa’s attack site: “vp. The building collapsed. Waltz was introducing Hegustes here. General Michael E. Kurira, Central Commander. And the intelligence community, or IC. References to “multiple positive IDs” suggest that the US intelligence agency used either human or technical assets to confirm the identity of the Houthi target or target.
Six minutes later, the Vice President appears to be clearly confused by the Waltz message. “What?” I write.
At 2pm, Waltz replied: “Too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had a positive ID that he stepped into his girlfriend’s building, but it’s now collapsed.”
Vance responded after a minute: “Great.” Thirty-five minutes later, CIA director Ratcliffe wrote, “A good start.” The Waltz continued with text that included fist emojis, American flag emojis and fire emojis. The Houthi-run Yemeni Health Ministry reported that at least 53 people have been killed in the strike.
Later that afternoon, Hegseth posted: “Centcom was a point,” he specifically told the group that the attacks continued afterwards. “All great work. Tonight we’ll have more hours of ongoing strikes and tomorrow we’ll provide a complete first report.
It is still unknown why journalists were added to the text exchange. Waltz, who invited Goldberg to the signal chat, said yesterday he was investigating “how he entered this room.”
