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Trump Officials Texted Yemen War Plans 03/25 06:19
Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his
defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a
group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The
Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National
Security Council said the text chain "appears to be authentic."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top national security officials for President Donald
Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military
strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the
editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted
online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain "appears to be
authentic."
Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive
information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later
appeared to joke about the breach.
The material in the text chain "contained operational details of forthcoming
strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about
targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,"
editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.
It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were
classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect
service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes
against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and
military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March
15, the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in
Yemen.
The National Security Council is looking into the matter
The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into
how a journalist's number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat. In
addition to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, it included Vice President JD
Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of
national intelligence.
Goldberg said he received the Signal invitation from Mike Waltz, Trump's
national security adviser, who was also in the group chat.
Hegseth in his first comments on the matter attacked Goldberg as "deceitful"
and a "discredited so-called journalist" while alluding to previous critical
reporting of Trump from the publication. 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 texting war plans and that's all I have to say about that,"
Hegseth said in an exchange with reporters after landing in Hawaii on Monday as
he began his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as defense secretary.
In a statement late Monday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said
the president still has the "utmost confidence" in Waltz and the national
security team.
Earlier Monday, Trump told reporters: "I don't know anything about it.
You're telling me about it for the first time." He added that The Atlantic was
"not much of a magazine."
By early evening, the president jokingly brushed it aside. He amplified a
social media posting from Elon Musk spotlighting a conservative satirical news
site article with the cutting headline: "4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans
to 'The Atlantic' Where No One Will Ever See Them."
Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, but
it is not classified and can be hacked. Privacy and tech experts say the
popular end-to-end encrypted messaging and voice call app is more secure than
conventional texting.
Reaction poured in quickly
The sharing of sensitive information comes as Hegseth's office has just
announced a crackdown on leaks of sensitive information, including the
potential use of polygraphs on defense personnel to determine how reporters
have received information.
Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Hegseth, did not immediately respond to
requests for comment on why the defense secretary posted war operational plans
on an unclassified app.
The administration's handling of the highly sensitive information was
swiftly condemned by Democratic lawmakers. Senate Democratic leader Chuck
Schumer called for a full investigation.
"This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have
read about in a very, very long time," Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a
floor speech Monday afternoon.
"If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of
operational security and common sense I have ever seen," said Sen. Jack Reed of
Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a
statement.
He said American lives are "on the line. The carelessness shown by Trump's
Cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the
Administration immediately."
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence
Committee, said in a statement that he was "horrified" by the reports.
Himes said if a lower-ranking official "did what is described here, they
would likely lose their clearance and be subject to criminal investigation. The
American people deserve answers," which he said he planned to get at
Wednesday's previously scheduled committee hearing.
Some Republicans also expressed concerns.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed
Services Committee, told reporters Monday, "We're very concerned about it and
we'll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis."
Reed said he would be speaking with Wicker about what the committee will do
to "follow up" on the Signal leak.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to learn more about what
happened.
"Obviously, we got to to run it to the ground, figure out what went on
there," said Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson offered a notably forgiving posture.
"I think it would be a terrible mistake for there to be adverse consequences
on any of the people that were involved in that call," Johnson said. "They were
trying to do a good job, the mission was accomplished with precision."
There are strict laws around handling defense information
The handling of national defense information is strictly governed by law
under the century-old Espionage Act, including provisions that make it a crime
to remove such information from its "proper place of custody" even through an
act of gross negligence.
The Justice Department in 2015 and 2016 investigated whether former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law by communicating about
classified information with her aides on a private email server she set up,
though the FBI ultimately recommended against charges and none were brought.
In the Biden administration, some officials were given permission to
download Signal on their White House-issued phones, but were instructed to use
the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served
in the Democratic administration.
The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share
sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to communicate what
they internally referred to as "tippers" to notify someone when they were away
from the office or traveling overseas that they should check their "high side"
inbox for a classified message.
The app was sometimes also used by officials during the Biden administration
to communicate about scheduling of sensitive meetings or classified phone calls
when they were outside the office, the official said.
The use of Signal became more prevalent during the last year of the Biden
administration after federal law enforcement officials warned that China and
Iran were hacking the White House as well as officials in the first Trump
administration, according to the official.
The official was unaware of top Biden administration officials -- such as
Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and national
security adviser Jake Sullivan -- using Signal to discuss sensitive plans as
the Trump administration officials did.
Some of the toughest criticism targeted Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel
weekend host. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, said on social media
that Hegseth, "the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in history, is
demonstrating his incompetence by literally leaking classified war plans in the
group chat."
Leak reveals internal debate on Houthi operation
Vance in the chain of the messages questioned whether Americans would
understand the importance of strikes that came with the risk of "a moderate to
severe spike in oil prices" and if the timing of the operation might be a
"mistake."
"I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns
to myself," Vance argued. "But there is a strong argument for delaying this a
month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy
is, etc."
Vance also made the case that Europe would benefit much more than the U.S.
by the action aimed at decimating the Houthis and securing Red Sea shipping
lanes.
"If you think we should do it let's go. I just hate bailing Europe out
again," Vance said in a back-and-forth with Hegseth.
"I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC,"
Hegseth replied. He added, "I think we should go."
The vice president's communications director, William Martin, released a
statement downplaying the debate. He said Vance "unequivocally supports this
administration's foreign policy."
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