The White House's efforts to defend Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses on Wednesday leaned heavily towards debating meaning. They argue that it wasn't a “war plan” that he posted on a now-unknown signalling chat with his national security colleagues.
Technically, they may be right. What Atlantic has released is something like a timeline of pending attacks from a chain that was incorrectly included by its top editor, Jeffrey Goldberg. But it's very detailed – the F/A-18F Super Hornet Jet should be firing, and the time the MQ-9 Reaper drone dives from land in the Middle East – could certainly prove the distinction.
A complete “war plan” is undoubtedly more specific due to the routing of the target weapons and coordinates. However, it is unlikely to help the Secretary of Defense as he tries to explain why he explained these details to unclassified commercial apps.
And it was the timestamp he included in his message hours before the attack began, and it was important. Had this information been leaked, the Houthi fighter and missile experts targeting Yemen would have had time to escape. Hegseth's own “OPSEC” or his own signal chain reference to operational security showed a full understanding of the need to keep this timing secret.
And the level of detail was impressive: “1215et: F-18S launch (1st strike package),” Hegseth wrote in the chat. “1345: “Trigger Base” F-18 1st Strike Window begins (the target terrorist should be on time as @ his known location) – Also, the Strike Drone launch (MQ-9S). ”
Obviously, this is the most sensitive of battlefield planning. National Security Veterans say that when Hegses sent them to group chat, it was almost certainly categorized data. However, the issue of classification lies at the heart of the Trump administration's explanation of why signal chat is a minor violation.
“So this wasn't classified,” Trump argued during a meeting with the US ambassador at the White House on Tuesday. “If it's categorized information now, that might be a little different, but I always say you have to learn from every experience.”
The White House and national security authorities will not be able to say declassify the data or whether they did after the attacks have ended.
“It is God's wonderful grace that we are not grieving the pilots we have now,” Connecticut president Jim Himez said during a hearing Wednesday morning with Top Intelligence officials.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt did not stop Hegseth, a former National Guard infantryman and television commentator who had made a string of failure in the first two months, from claiming he had not revealed a “war plan.”
“The Atlantic acknowledged. These were not 'war plans,'” Leavitt wrote to X.
Aside from an attack on Goldberg, who has covered national security issues for decades, Leavitt's explosion was openly contradicted by CIA director John Ratcliffe, testifying before a Senate committee on Tuesday.
He acknowledged that the signal chain he was a participant was authentic and that Goldberg's explanation was accurate. After Ratcliffe confirmed his participation, National Intelligence Director Tarsi Gabbard, who initially tried to avoid questions about the signal chain, later agreed.
Neither said the information was classified. However, when pressed, they revised the comment and said there was no information classified in the chat. That is, they did not comment on whether the Pentagon's operational plans are classified.
But let's consider this and consider a general test to test their comments honestly. The news organization said they were considering going to the Pentagon or the National Security Council before the attack and releasing this type of timing and details. Or was it because, with missile capabilities, the Houthis knew they were coming, could they put American pilots at risk?
The administration almost certainly asked them not to make it public – and most responsible news organizations would have reclaimed that data at least until the attack was over. This is a scenario that has unfolded many times over the past few years, including everything from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to attacks on sites in Syria and Iran.
All of this makes it even more mysterious that more than 18 Trump administration officials discussed the timing of commercials for encrypted apps that their servers are outside the US.
