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Jeffrey Goldberg, who edits The Atlantic, wrote in a story published Monday afternoon, March 24 that US national security leaders included him in an encrypted Signal messaging group chat about military strikes in Yemen earlier this month.
"I didn't think it could be real," Goldberg said. "Then the bombs started falling."
Goldberg said he received the info on Saturday, March 15 two hours before it was announced at around 2 p.m. that day that the strikes had hit Yemen.
"The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m.," Goldberg wrote. "The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing."
It's unclear who added names of recipients to the group chat.
A spokesman for the National Security Council said the message chain shown in The Atlantic story does appear to be authentic.
The US attack targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who had been attacking commercial ships and Israel.A total of 18 people were involved in the chat, including Hegseth as well as;- Vice President JD Vance,
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe,
- National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,
- Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,
- White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,
- Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
The use of the Signal app to discuss war plans may violate the Espionage Act, because classified information was shared on an unclassified system, and could have jeopardized national security.
Click here to read the complete report in The Atlantic.
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