American news magazine The Atlantic has published what it says is a full transcript of a Signal chat in which top defense and Trump administration officials discussed airstrikes on Yemen.
The Atlantic first published details of the group chat on Monday.
Amid the political fallout, members of the chat including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe downplayed the incident and told a Senate hearing that no classified information had been shared in the Signal chat.
This prompted The Atlantic to release the full transcripton Wednesday.
The transcript includes the names of those involved in the chat, except for one CIA officer whose name was withheld by the magazine on request from the agency.
Trump administration hits back at story
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly responded to Wednesday’s disclosure. The White House says Trump still has “confidence” in his national security team.
“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans’,” she posted on social media.
“This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
The screenshots published on Wednesday also confirmed that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was responsible for adding Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat — something Waltz had earlier admitted to.
On Wednesday, Waltz reiterated his claims that the chat contained “no locations,” “no sources and methods,” and “no war plans.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said the transcript showed that Goldberg “oversold” the significance of the magazine’s story.
“It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had,” Vance posted on social media.
Timing of Yemen strike shared in chat
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly denied sharing war plans in the Signal chat.
But the transcript shows that he texted the start time for a planned killing of a Houthi militant in Yemen on March 15 as well as other details of imminent US strikes.
Hegseth posted the following timeline in a single message:
“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME _ also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts _ also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/the-atlantic-publishes-more-texts-on-us-yemen-attack-plan/a-72044541
