WHO REALLY LEAKED THE HOUTHI WAR PLANS? IT'S COMPLICATED.
Having an intel leak isn’t just embarrassing, it can cost the lives of innocent people. Controversy broke out early during President Trump’s second term as an alleged Signal group chat was leaked, after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a discussion about sensitive information involving war plans. However, while the strikes on the Houthis went on without a hitch, there are still serious concerns surrounding how this all happened and who, if anyone, added the journalist to the group.
Who Leaked the Houthi War Plans?
While the Signal leak is a developing story, Jeffrey Goldberg is the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, and he was added to a group chat with several high-ranking officials.
According to Goldberg, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added him to the group when a discussion involving sensitive information took place.
There is now a back-and-forth involving what was exactly said involving war plans (or attack plans) for a strike in Yemen against Houthi terrorists.
However, regardless of all of that, we now know that a CIA operative’s name was included in the texts exchanged with Goldberg in the group—a notable security breach.
The White House and The Pentagon Deny Hegseth Leaked Intel
The White House and Pentagon are pushing back against claims that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaked military secrets through a Signal group chat ahead of airstrikes on Houthi targets.
Hegseth received the blame and while it seems it was Waltz that is responsible for adding the journalist, there are still concerns over the whole ordeal.
While officials insist no classified information was shared, lawmakers, including some Republicans, are calling for further scrutiny.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker admitted "mistakes were made," and multiple Democratic Senators are demanding disciplinary action, including some, like Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who are calling for resignations.
Keep in mind that the government is not allowed to use personal devices and messaging apps like Signal when discussing classified information.
Even though the FBI is looking into it, there isn’t a formal investigation at this time.
A CIA Officer's Identity Was Also Leaked
Even with Hegseth not being responsible for adding Goldberg to the Signal chat, it’s the discussions that happened with a shocking outsider present that is making headlines.
While the debate continues about whether the plans involving a Houthi strike were as sensitive as it feels it might be, there is still the fact that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, leaked the name of an active CIA intelligence officer.
This information remains out of the public eye as Goldberg didn’t release it out of respect for the officer’s privacy.
Still, all of these issues together compound just how much could be released and how high the stakes are.
New Texts Involving Signal Houthi War Plan Leak Released
When Jeffrey Goldberg released the Signal chat texts through The Atlantic, it seems he left some things out.
However, President Trump has now said that the thread wasn't classified, and it seems that there's more to the story.
Because Trump has deemed the chat as not classified, it appears Goldberg has provided a message he previously expressed concerns about involving information that, if accessed by U.S. adversaries, could endanger American military and intelligence personnel.
Below are some of the texts that were released:
Thursday, March 13th
Michael Waltz
Team – establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours. My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.
Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days and over the weekend. Thx.
Friday, March 14th
Michael Waltz
Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents guidance this morning in your high side inboxes.
State and DOD, we developed suggested notification lists for regional Allies and partners.
Joint Staff is sending this am a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS, OVP and POTUS are briefed.
JD Vance
Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.
3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.
I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices.
I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.
Pete Hegseth
VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.
But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.
Saturday, March 15th
Pete Hegseth
TEAM UPDATE:
TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.
1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)
1345: “Trigger Based” F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME) – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)
1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)
1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier “Trigger Based” targets)
1536: F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.
MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)
We are currently clean on OPSEC.
Godspeed to our Warriors.
Now, you can read all the texts in full with annotations, with the exception of the CIA officer’s name, which remains redacted from the public.
Both sides are continuing to battle about the semantics of it all, with those supporting Trump arguing that The Atlantic changing its headline from "War Plans" to "Attack Plans" proves it was a smear campaign, while the idea that there's a realistic difference is lost on the likes of Goldberg.
Sadly, the one thing that is clear is that politics are getting in the way of the truth at the expense of the American public.
Both the press and our government have a responsibility to do their best to provide accurate information, even when it's unflattering.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
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