{"id":16191,"date":"2025-03-26T14:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T21:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16191"},"modified":"2025-03-26T14:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T21:12:11","slug":"sources-say-the-details-shared-by-hegseth-in-signal-chat-were-classified-as-atlantic-publishes-additional-messages-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16191","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Sources say the details shared by Hegseth in Signal chat were classified as Atlantic publishes additional messages&#8221;, CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/natasha-bertrand-profile\">Natasha Bertrand<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/zachary-cohen-profile\">Zachary Cohen<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/betsy-klein\">Betsy Klein<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/shania-shelton\">Shania Shelton<\/a>, CNN, Wed March 26, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington CNN\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat of top Trump national security officials was highly classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense official familiar with the operation and another source who was briefed on it afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The updates Hegseth was giving in the Signal chat were the kind of real-time play-by-play that a commander would be giving to the president in a highly classified setting as the operation unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are operational plans that are highly classified in order to protect the servicemembers,\u201d the defense official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Atlantic on Wednesday published additional text messages from the Signal group chat, underscoring a massive breach in operational security as specific sensitive information about the Houthi attack was shared in the chat before it was carried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Donald Trump and his team have repeatedly sought to downplay the sensitivity of the information shared in the Signal group in the aftermath of The Atlantic\u2019s bombshell story on Monday. While they denied there was a \u201cwar plan\u201d shared, the text messages published Wednesday offer an extremely detailed description of the coming strike, including the airplanes and drones used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is safe to say that anybody in uniform would be court martialed for this,\u201d the defense official added. \u201cWe don\u2019t provide that level of information on unclassified systems, in order to protect the lives and safety of the servicemembers carrying out these strikes. If we did, it would be wholly irresponsible. My most junior analysts know not to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A former senior US military commander said the information shared would allow adversaries to evacuate targeted areas ranging from command and control centers, to communication sites and firing positions. Moreover, it would allow them to mass anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons to overwhelm US pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUntil the strike goes it\u2019s absolutely classified as the lives of our pilots depend on secrecy,\u201d the former commander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The messages also rebut the claim from Hegseth and other Trump administration officials that war plans were not discussed on the chain. In a message sent at 11:44 a.m. ET and published by The Atlantic\u2019s Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris, Hegseth shares operational details about the strikes: \u201cWeather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w\/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,\u201d Hegseth wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said on Wednesday that he and the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jack Reed, are formally asking the administration for an Inspector General report on the Signal chat for the committee to review and a classified briefing from a senior official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wicker said the information in the chat was \u201cof such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Top US officials have said the information shared in the text messages was not classified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who was one of the participants in the group chat, acknowledged on Tuesday that \u201cpre-decisional strike deliberation should be conducted through classified channels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pentagon\u2019s chief spokesman Sean Parnell acknowledged on Wednesday that Hegseth shared information on the US military\u2019s strikes on Yemen while the operation was underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese additional Signal chat messages confirm there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The Secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway and had already been briefed through official channels. The American people see through the Atlantic\u2019s pathetic attempts to distract from President Trump\u2019s national security agenda,\u201d Parnell said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth goes on to share the plans in extraordinary detail, according to The Atlantic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201c1345: \u2018Trigger Based\u2019 F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME \u2013 also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201c1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201c1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier \u2018Trigger Based\u2019 targets)\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201c1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts \u2013 also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That information, according to The Atlantic, was received \u201ctwo hours before the scheduled start of the bombing of Houthi positions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf this information \u2014 particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen \u2014 had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face,\u201d Goldberg and Harris wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>National security adviser Mike Waltz later texted to confirm that the target was in a building that collapsed and the strike was successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe first target \u2013 their top missile guy \u2013 we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend\u2019s building and it\u2019s now collapsed,\u201d Waltz wrote at 2 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And later in the day, Hegseth confirmed to the group that more strikes were coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGreat 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The release of the messages appeared to undercut Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/03\/25\/politics\/intel-officials-shift-responsibility-yemen-chat\/index.html\">testimony on Tuesday<\/a>, where she said it was to her knowledge that weapons packages, targets and timing weren\u2019t part of the conversations in the Signal chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gabbard on Wednesday doubled down on the administration\u2019s insistence that no classified information was shared in the now-infamous chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe conversation was candid and sensitive, but as the president, National Security Advisor stated, no classified information was shared,\u201d Gabbard told the House Intelligence Committee. \u201cThere were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared. This was a standard update to the national security cabinet that was provided alongside updates that were given to foreign partners in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also said Hegseth was ultimately responsible for deciding what in that conversation should or should not have been classified: \u201cUltimately, the Secretary of Defense holds the authority to classify or declassify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goldberg said on Wednesday the magazine decided to redact a sensitive piece of information out of their follow-up article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe did redact one piece of information because we felt, on our own, that we felt it was best to do. And the CIA asked us, but, you know, at a certain point, the administration is saying that there\u2019s nothing classified or secret or sensitive in these so at a certain point, I just felt, you know, let our readers decide for themselves,\u201d he said on MSNBC of the decision to publish the rest of the information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moments after The Atlantic published the text messages, the White House continued to push back and seek to discredit Goldberg\u2019s reporting, though the National Security Council has verified the authenticity of the text thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT \u2018war plans.\u2019 This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/presssec\/status\/1904875629612331123?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">post<\/a>&nbsp;to social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leavitt is also pushing back against concerns that Steve Witkoff, the president\u2019s special envoy for the Middle East, who was on the group chat, was receiving the texts while in Moscow. Witkoff, she&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PressSec\/status\/1904872597197578617\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cwas provided a secure line of communication by the U.S. Government, and it was the only phone he had in his possession while in Moscow,\u201d going on to shift blame to the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goldberg criticized Leavitt\u2019s response to the news during his MSNBC appearance and said \u201cshe\u2019s just playing some sort of weird semantic game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CNN\u2019s military analyst retired Col. Cedric Leighton said the details have \u201call the elements of a war plan, and what that means is, all of these elements mean that this stuff is classified. Full stop. There is no question this is classified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CNN\u2019s Jim Sciutto, Michael Williams, Morgan Rimmer and&nbsp;<em>Ted Barrett contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/houthie-pc-group.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\" alt=\"This series of screengrabs show text messages from the Signal group chat of top Trump national security officials.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This series of screengrabs show text messages from the Signal group chat of top Trump national security officials.&nbsp;From The Atlantic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This series of screengrabs show text messages from the Signal group chat of top Trump national security officials.&nbsp;From The Atlantic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Natasha Bertrand,\u00a0Zachary Cohen,\u00a0Betsy Klein\u00a0and\u00a0Shania Shelton, CNN, Wed March 26, 2025 Washington CNN\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 The information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat of top Trump national security officials was highly classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense official familiar with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}