The repercussions of top US officials mistakenly sharing details regarding an attack plan on Yemen with a journalist continue to echo.

Democratic senators in the US criticized harshly the senior national security officials in the Trump administration for sharing military operation plans against the Houthis in Yemen in a messaging group that included a journalist during a Senate session attended by US Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Democratic Vice Chairman Mark Warner of the Senate Intelligence Committee pointed out that the issue highlighted a major security vulnerability, stating, “If a lower-ranking soldier had made such a mistake, they would have been relieved of duty.” The messaging group in question revealed the presence of US Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other senior officials. Allegedly, Defense Secretary Hegseth shared information containing US attack plans on Iranian-backed Houthi targets in Yemen via the messaging app Signal. This information included the locations of the targets, weapons to be used, and the timing of the attack.

Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff criticized the officials during the session, saying, “This is completely unprofessional behavior. No apology was given, nor was the seriousness of this mistake acknowledged.” White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt described the claims made by The Atlantic magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg as “exaggerated” and claimed that war plans were not discussed in the messaging group. President Donald Trump supported National Security Advisor Michael Waltz regarding the incident, saying, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson; he is a good person.” However, both Democrats and some Republicans stated that the issue constituted a serious breach of security and called for an investigation. The US government is investigating how a journalist’s number ended up being added to this group.

What happened was, on March 13th, it was revealed that a messaging group was created containing military operation plans against the Houthis in Yemen. Messages were shared via the encrypted messaging app Signal by top US intelligence and security officials, and it was claimed that The Atlantic magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was also mistakenly added to this group. Goldberg stated that the message chain contained details of attack plans, but he did not publish this information due to national security concerns. Following the messages, the US initiated a military operation against Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15th.