âThe 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. âŚ
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Moments after The Atlantic published the text messages, the White House continued to push back and seek to discredit Goldbergâs reporting, though the National Security Council has verified the authenticity of the text thread.
âThe Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT âwar plans.â This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,â White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a
post to social media.
Leavitt is also pushing back against concerns that Steve Witkoff, the presidentâs special envoy for the Middle East, who was on the group chat, was receiving the texts while in Moscow. Witkoff, she
said, âwas 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,â going on to shift blame to the media.
Goldberg criticized Leavittâs response to the news during his MSNBC appearance and said âsheâs just playing some sort of weird semantic game.â
CNNâs military analyst retired Col. Cedric Leighton said the details have âall 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.â âŚâ