The White House confirmed Monday that The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a highly classified group conversation with a group of senior U.S. officials devoted to strikes against Yemen’s Houthis.
It is arguably considered one of the most serious security lapses in recent US military history.
“At this time, the series of messages cited in the article appear to be authentic, and we are investigating how the number was added in error,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
Earlier on Monday, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg revealed in a lengthy article that he received, via the Signal messaging app, a detailed plan for the March 15 attack by the US military against this rebel group in Yemen.
“Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth sent me the plan” two hours before the strike began, including “precise data on weapons, targets and schedule,” writes Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the prestigious magazine The Atlantic.
The journalist explains that it all began on March 11, when White House national security adviser Mike Waltz contacted him via the messaging app Signal, which is popular among journalists and political leaders for its supposed confidentiality.
Two days later, a message called for “coordination” of action against the Houthis followed, followed by several other messages.
Jeffrey Goldberg explains that a total of 18 people are participating in this group chat, including, according to him, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
By March 15, he had seen a series of messages from top US government officials, including Pete Hegseth, dated March 15, detailing the imminent attacks.
The journalist said that until the first information about the real attacks came out, he had “strong doubts” about the credibility of this group.
He added that he “couldn’t believe that the president’s national security adviser would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic” in such confidential discussions.
