The Atlantic on Wednesday released more of the group chat among senior Trump administration officials in which they discussed U.S. military plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, a day after senior officials said there was nothing classified in the messages.
The publication had initially withheld details of the strike plans, saying the information was sensitive. But at a Senate panel hearing on Tuesday, and in comments to the news media, an array of administration officials said that the information was not classified, attempting to downplay the seriousness of the breach.
The new messages, which include screenshots of the full chat on the encrypted consumer messaging app Signal, make clear that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth included specific details of the timing of the launches from aircraft carriers of the U.S. military jets that were to strike Houthi targets.
Launch times are closely guarded to ensure that the targets cannot move into hiding or mount a counterattack at the very moment planes are taking off, when they are potentially vulnerable.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor in chief, had been inadvertently added to the chat and was able to observe all the messages until he left the group after the strikes took place. The Atlantic said its release on Wednesday included all the texts except the name of a C.I.A. officer working as an aide to John Ratcliffe, the agency’s director, at the request of the C.I.A.
Mr. Hegseth did not post all the details of the war plans and did not identify the precise targets the planes were going to hit, other than to say they were going after a “Target Terrorist.” But Mr. Hegseth posted the precise times that various waves of planes would take off, information that is typically highly classified.
The new messages are likely to fuel more pointed questions in the House Intelligence Committee, which is scheduled to question Mr. Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, on Wednesday morning. They were two of the officials who were included on the group chat started by Michael Waltz, the national security adviser.
After an initial round of strikes on March 15, the defense secretary wrote in the chat that “CENTCOM was/is on point,” referring to the military’s Central Command, which was in charge of the operation. He then told the group that the strikes would be continuing. “Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far.”
Newly disclosed messages from the chat suggest that Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, may have mischaracterized a critical part of the exchange in her appearance before the Senate yesterday. Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, asked Gabbard: ”Precise operational issues were not part of this conversation?” She responded: “Correct.” Given the launch times that the defense secretary shared in the chat, House Democrats will undoubtedly press her on this today.
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