Multiple top Trump administration officials on Tuesday vehemently denied that any classified material or war plans were shared in a Signal group chat that mistakenly included The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, whose reporting has sparked a firestorm in Washington over the alleged leak of sensitive military information.
The denials came under oath during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, as questions mount over how a journalist came to be included in private digital communications ahead of a U.S. military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
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Goldberg reported Monday that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added him to a Signal group chat that included top-level Trump officials discussing an upcoming military operation. According to Goldberg, the chat contained specific timing, target locations, and sequencing of the planned strike — details he said he chose not to publish out of concern they may be classified.
“The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel,” Goldberg wrote in The Atlantic.
The White House has confirmed the chat and its participants — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President J.D. Vance, among others. However, officials continue to dispute the characterization of the messages.
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“There were no war plans discussed, period,” Hegseth said Monday.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt backed Hegseth’s denial and accused Goldberg of “sensationalist spin” meant to generate controversy. She stressed that “no classified material was sent to the thread.”
CIA Director Ratcliffe and DNI Tulsi Gabbard reiterated the administration’s stance in sworn testimony, both stating unequivocally that no classified content was included in the chat.
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In response to the denials and attacks on his credibility, Goldberg stood by his reporting and hinted that the full content of the chat could soon be made public.
“Maybe in the coming days, I’ll be able to let you know that I have a plan to have this material vetted publicly,” Goldberg said on The Bulwark Podcast.
He acknowledged that the content may not be technically classified, but emphasized that it was still “national security sensitive.”
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“I take this stuff very seriously — whether it’s classified or not,” Goldberg said. “I’m sticking to my principles here.”
While the White House insists the matter is being investigated internally and downplays any operational impact, the inclusion of a journalist in what appears to have been a real-time discussion of military action has triggered renewed scrutiny of communication protocols among senior government officials — especially on encrypted platforms like Signal.
Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), have sharply criticized the incident.
“This is an embarrassment. This is utterly unprofessional,” Ossoff said Tuesday. “There has been no apology. There has been no recognition of the gravity of this error.”
As Goldberg considers releasing the messages — pending security review — the controversy underscores the blurred lines between secure communications, journalistic discretion, and accountability at the highest levels of government.
Whether the Signal chat contained actionable military secrets or just highly sensitive context, the fallout is likely to continue — with legal, political, and institutional consequences potentially on the horizon.
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