Leading US government figures such as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have faced accusations of a significant security lapse involving military intelligence. This followed an incident where a journalist inadvertently received confidential plans outlining potential U.S. attacks in Yemen.
On Monday, an article in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, who serves as the magazine’s editor-in-chief, disclosed that he had been included in a group conversation on the Signal messaging platform earlier this month.
Consequently, he managed to access communications from high-ranking national security officers regarding impending assaults on the Iran-supported Houthis in Yemen. This included comprehensive details about the objectives and the specific armaments that would be employed in these operations.
Soon after, locations throughout Yemen were hit with bombs on March 15th. Since the militant group started attacking commercial and military ships in the Red Sea in November 2023, the U.S. has conducted airstrike operations against the Houthis.
Goldberg stated that he would refrain from publishing messages from the group chat that might endanger the United States’ national security.
Nevertheless, in the Atlantic piece, the journalist disclosed certain remarks made within the closed group, which counted among its members Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Tulsi Gabbard, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence.
The released communications initially debate whether the strikes should proceed. Subsequently, they reveal that after the commencement of the military action, members within the group shared congratulatory messages with each other.
The US National Security Council has verified that the text message thread “seems to be genuine.”
One of the biggest mistakes in operational security
Following Goldberg’s disclosure, both politicians and experts voiced their concerns over the news that high-ranking officials within the Trump administration were deliberating about war strategies using Signal.
National security personnel typically talk about military operations through the government’s dedicated channels within secure compartments known as SCIFs (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities).
“We have significant concerns regarding this matter and will investigate it from a non-partisan perspective,” stated Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a Republican from Mississippi.
At the same time, Chuck Schumer, a prominent Democratic senator from New York, described it as “one of the most astonishing compromises of military intelligence I have come across in a very, very long period.”
His coworker Jack Reed, who hails from Rhode Island and is the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, mentioned that the discussion thread about Yemen might have endangered the lives of U.S. military members.
“The negligence exhibited by Trump’s Cabinet is both astounding and perilous. I am going to demand explanations from the Administration right away,” he stated additionally.
Hegseth criticizes journalist as Trump claims ignorance
The National Security Council stated in an announcement that they were looking into how a journalist’s phone number ended up being included in the Signal group conversation.
In his first comments on the matter, Hegseth attacked Goldberg for being what he called a “discredited so-called journalist”. He did not shed light on why Signal was being used to discuss the sensitive operation or how Goldberg ended up on the message chain.
” Nobody was sending texts about battle strategies, and that’s everything I need to comment on,” Hegseth stated during an interaction with journalists upon arriving in Hawaii on Monday, marking his inaugural journey to the Indo-Pacific region as defense secretary.
Late on Monday, in an official statement, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt mentioned that the president continues to have “complete faith” in his national security team.
On Monday earlier, Donald Trump informed journalists: “I have no knowledge regarding this matter. This is the first I’m hearing about it.”