WASHINGTON – National security officials grilled by Democrat senators on Tuesday denied fraudulent behavior by members of the Trump administration cabinet who discussed plans to bomb Yemen in a signal group chat shared with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

CIA director John Ratcliffe and National Intelligence Director Tarcigabad questioned specific details shared on the text chain, claiming that the information classified via the messaging app has not been relayed.

Officials testified for almost two hours during the Senate Selection Committee on the Intelligence Report, which is scheduled regularly on global threats.

Ratcliffe and Gabbard’s denial, which revealed operations details, including timing and strike targets, are contradictory to Goldberg’s stunning contradictions. Report Regarding violations. His article was published 24 hours before it appeared before the panel.

Goldberg spoke about receiving a presumably careless invitation from national security adviser Michael Waltz to join a group chat with top security officers. Goldberg remained in a chat that seemed obviously unnoticed for several days, witnessing discussions on details of our strike plan against Iran-backed Hooti rebels in Yemen and subsequent celebrations.

“I don’t want to get into this.”

Gabbard initially refused to confirm that she was part of the chat under the initial “TG”. “I don’t want to get into this,” she told Sen. Mark Warner, the panel’s vice-chairman.

Turning to the CIA director, Warner said, “Was you ‘John Ratcliffe’ in that chat? “I asked.

“I was,” Ratcliffe confirmed to a Virginia Democrat.

Ratcliffe defended the use of signaling, an encrypted commercial messaging app, as a channel that government officials use regularly to “provide the work provided and communicate and coordinate with senators that they are recorded through formal channels.”

“My communication was completely acceptable and legal in the signalling messaging group, and didn’t contain any sorted information,” Ratcliffe said.

Gabbard also testified to the panel that the information classified in group chats has not been discussed.

Sen. Angus King, who is independent of Maine, told Gabbard she was “confusing” by her claims.

“According to an open source report, at 11:44am on the morning of March 15, Secretary (Defense) Hegses submitted a detailed operational plan to this group text, including the target, weapons to use, attack sequences and timing,” King said. “Isn’t that classified?”

“Senator, I can at any time prove that there was no classification or intelligence stakes that were included in that chat group,” Gabbard told King to ask the Department of Defense for details on the classification.

“In that case, you should release this entire text stream so that the public can see what actually happened in this discussion,” King said.

Goldberg published verbatim portions of the chat and screenshots, including emoji symbols that officials used to celebrate the strike, including emoji symbols, but magazine editors across the country did not cite Hegses’ messages about the targets, weapons and strike sequences they use, including emoji symbols.

Enemy country

Georgia Sen. John Ossoff raised a scenario in which wider leaks of chats would be interested in enemy countries, particularly “when enemy air forces target US air crews flying through enemy airspace.”

“Coach Ratcliffe, this was a big mistake, was it right?” Ossov asked.

“No,” replied Ratcliffe.

According to an investigation by the NPR, the officials were warned of traffic light use on March 18th due to the possibility of spying. Report It will be released on Tuesday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Signal Group Chat in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday morning, attacking Goldberg as “famous for his sensational spin.”

“The facts about his latest story are: 1. The “war plan” was not discussed. 2. No materials classified as threads were sent. 3. “The White House lawyers’ office provided guidance on many different platforms to ensure that President Trump’s top officials communicate as safely and efficiently as possible,” writes Leavitt.

She added, “The White House is considering how Goldberg numbers were accidentally added to the thread.”

Attack on the media

Shortly after Tuesday, Eastern Noon, White House press released a statement characterizing media reporting the violations as “a coordinated effort to distract them from the successful actions taken by President Trump and his administration to make the American enemy pay.”

Hegses attacked Goldberg on Monday when he was pushed by a reporter at Pearl Harbor Hickman’s joint base in Hawaii. I said“No one texted the war plan. That’s all I have to say.”

Warner and other Democrats are calling for Heggs and Waltz to resign.

A hearing to the Senate Intelligence Election Panel on Tuesday was streamed throughout it C-Span.

According to the strike on March 15th, dozens were killed. Report According to the Associated Press, citing health authorities at Houthi-Run.

Former President Joe Biden joined the British forces; Also, the target We will be based in Houthi in Yemen from January 2024.

That’s the rebel group attack A commercial ship in the Red Sea since the start of Israeli war with Hamas following the attack on October 7, 2023.

Last updated at 2:48pm, March 25, 2025