Top national security officials for President Donald Trump texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story published Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters, “We’re very concerned about it and we’ll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis.”
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,” 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. Trump told reporters he was not aware of the apparent breach in protocol.
Senate Democrats have called for an investigation following the report. Some Republicans have been critical, but had mostly stopped short of calling for an investigation or congressional hearings.
Hillary Clinton Responds To War Plans Leak
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a seven-word response to news that Trump administration officials had accidentally texted a war plan to a journalist in a group chat.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, tweeted.
The response was notable given Clinton faced scrutiny—and an FBI investigation—over her own handling of sensitive information. The FBI and Justice Department investigated her as she ran for president over whether she had illegally communicated classified information to colleagues through a private email server that she used as secretary of state in the Obama administration.
Then-FBI Director James Comey recommended against criminal charges, but the issue nonetheless dogged her throughout her campaign and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, made it a central point of attack.
Trump Has ‘Utmost Confidence’ in National Security Team After Leak
An endorsement conveyed by Trump’s chief spokesperson came several hours after The Atlantic published its report.
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective, President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Trump in an exchange with reporters earlier on Monday said he was not aware of the report of the leak and that he was being told “about it for the first time.”
Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said there should be a congressional investigation and that it was important to understand what happened and to prevent “this type of national security breach from ever happening again.”
“This is reckless, irresponsible and dangerous,” Jeffries said.
He said Americans were promised that Trump would hire only the very best, but “this whole Trump administration is filled with lackeys and incompetent cronies.”
The National Security Council says it is looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat.
