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Atlantic Magazine Releases More Signal Texts Where Hegseth Shared Attack Details

National security adviser Mike Waltz texted intelligence confirming strike on key militants

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted, ‘we are a GO for mission launch’ on Houthi militants in Yemen. Photo: Sra Madelyn Keech/Dod/Zuma Press

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted, ‘we are a GO for mission launch’ on Houthi militants in Yemen. Photo: Sra Madelyn Keech/Dod/Zuma Press

WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted plans for the timing and weapons to be used in a military strike against Houthi militants on a nongovernmental group chat at least two hours before the first bombs were scheduled to drop, according to texts published Wednesday by the Atlantic magazine. 

The release of the texts comes after days of contentious dispute between the magazine and the White House over whether classified information about the military operation has been shared in the unclassified chat group in violation of longstanding security procedures and possibly legal requirements.

The new messages made public by the magazine showed the texts included details about the specific times that F-18s, MQ-9 drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles would be used in the attack and mentions intelligence that an unnamed target of the attacks was at a “known location.” 

Such information is normally guarded carefully by the Pentagon before imminent strikes to avoid disclosures that could help adversaries. 

In a text entitled “Team Update” on the Signal service, Hegseth wrote that the weather was favorable for the military operation and that “we are a GO for mission launch.”  

The text was posted at 11:44 a.m. eastern time on March 15, about 30 minutes before the first U.S. F-18s warplanes that carried out the strikes took off from a U.S. aircraft carrier.

The defense secretary added that “THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP” at 2:15 p.m. 

 

National security advisor Mike Waltz met with officials Tuesday at the White House.
National security advisor Mike Waltz texted that the Houthi’s ‘top missile guy’ had been struck. Photo: mandel ngan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

 

National security adviser Mike Waltz later texted that real-time U.S. intelligence had confirmed that the first target, whom he identified as the Houthi’s “top missile guy,” had been struck. 

“We had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it is now collapsed,” Waltz texted, in response to a question from Vice President JD Vance.

Targeting plans and the employment of American forces have long been considered to be highly classified before action is taken because their disclosure can tip off adversaries and provide them with insights on how the U.S. conducts sensitive military operations, former officials and national security experts say.

Detailed battle damage assessments, especially those made during the course of an attack, have also been considered to be secret unless efforts are made to declassify them, former officials say.

The White House has said repeatedly that the messages were authentic and that the information wasn’t classified.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a social-media post Wednesday that the Atlantic’s story proved no war plans were shared on the Signal chat. “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” she posted to X, referring to Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

During an appearance on Fox Tuesday evening, Waltz said “I take full responsibility. I built the group,“ and described adding a journalist onto the thread as “embarrassing.“

On Tuesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify Pentagon information and, thus, the chat wasn’t secret. Hegseth hasn’t said if he formally declassified the detailed information that he put into the chat, but had denied sending war plans.

“Nobody is texting war plans,” Hegseth said Tuesday during a trip to the Pacific. “I know exactly what I am doing.” 

Author: Michael R. Gordon and Nancy A. Youssef

Source: WSJ:

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