Pentagon chief denies war plans leak amid Signal chat scandal
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth denied sending plans for a strike on Houthi militants in Yemen during a group discussion on the Signal messaging app. Earlier, a spokesman for the National Security Council confirmed the authenticity of the messages revealed by The Atlantic.
- Nobody was texting war plans, and that's all I have to say about that, - Hegseth remarked during a brief statement after landing in Hawaii. The Pentagon chief was referring to the revelations in the magazine "The Atlantic".
The editor-in-chief of the magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a group discussion on the Signal messaging app involving senior officials in the administration about the planned attack against Houthi militants in Yemen.
Were they planning an attack on Yemen in a chat with a journalist?
Goldberg claims that two hours before the strike on Saturday, March 15th, Hegseth provided the group with the attack plan on the Houthis, including details about target locations, the weapons to be used, and the forces involved. The chat reportedly included 18 individuals, among them Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, CIA Chief John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. According to the journalist, participants in the discussion likely violated several laws.
- A deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again. (...) This is the guy that pedals in garbage. This is what he does, - Hegseth said about Goldberg.
Speaking to MSNBC, Goldberg said that the Defence Secretary seemed to be attempting to divert attention from the fact that he was involved in a conversation on a widely available messaging app that he perhaps should not have been a part of.
Hegseth denied the journalist's reports, despite the fact that the authenticity of the messages had already been confirmed by National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes. House Speaker Mike Johnson also stated that the administration admitted it was a mistake. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker announced he intends to investigate the matter, as does Senate Republican Leader John Thune.
Liberal commentators noted that many of the participants in the discussion via a publicly available commercial app, including Hegseth and Rubio, once condemned using a private email server for official purposes by Hillary Clinton in 2016. At that time, Hegseth demanded charges be brought against the former Secretary of State.
President Donald Trump declined to comment on the matter on Monday, stating that it was the first time he had heard of it from the journalist questioning him. He also said that he does not like "The Atlantic" and that the magazine is dying. He later posted a satirical article on his social platform, along with a comment from Elon Musk mocking the magazine's readers.
"Best place to hide a dead body is page two of The Atlantic Magazine, because no one ever goes there," Musk wrote.
Vance on Europe
In addition to sending plans and sensitive data about the operation in Yemen, the magazine editor observed discussions preceding the decision to strike. Vice President J.D. Vance mainly expressed scepticism, arguing that Europe would disproportionately benefit, as it relies much more on trade routes through the Red Sea, threatened by the Houthis.
"I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now," Vance reportedly stated, "If you think we should do it, let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again."
Hegseth criticised Europe's reliance but noted that only the USA could conduct an operation on such a scale. Presidential adviser Stephen Miller responded that Trump had agreed to it but "we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return," Miller said.
