Washington [US], March 26: The White House on Tuesday played down a growing scandal over a journalist gaining inadvertent access to a secret US administration chat group discussing an attack on the Houthi militia in Yemen.
Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was "well-known for his sensationalist spin." No war plans had been discussed and no classified material had been sent on the encrypted messaging app Signal, Leavitt said. The White House was investigating how Goldberg's number was added to the thread, she said.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, earlier confirmed that the chat history was authentic and announced an internal investigation into the incident.
Leavitt then turned to the content of the chat, insisting that the strikes on the Houthis had been successful, thanks "to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump and everyone in the group."
The chat included Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior government officials.
According to Goldberg, the chat covered both military tactics and political messaging related to a planned strike against Houthi rebels.
The incident has prompted calls for an investigation from opposition leaders in the US Senate.
Democrat Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, described the breach as "amateur behaviour" in a post on X.
"This kind of security breach is how people get killed. How our enemies take advantage. How our national security falls into danger," Schumer wrote, calling for a "full investigation into how this happened and the damage it created."
Source: Qatar Tribune