White House blunder: US journalist added to Whatsapp group sharing classified information about Houthi strikes
PTC News Desk: In a bizarre and shocking turn of events, a US journalist was accidentally added in a private group chat in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top American officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen's Huthi rebels, the White House confirmed Monday.
"The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
The journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was added in a group where top politicians and senior officials shared classified information pertaining to the imminent strikes on Yemen.
According to the reports, the error involved top officials—including Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard—who were using the messaging app Signal to coordinate their strategy. Signal, while encrypted, is not approved for sharing classified information.
The journalist Goldberg in his report said that he discovered he had been added to a Signal group called “Houthi PC Small Group” which included 18 other senior Trump administration officials. He said that as soon as he discovered he quickly deleted sensitive material including details about a CIA officer and ongoing operations.
The latest incident of security breach has triggered massive outrage along the country's politics with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer describing it as "one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time" and calling for a full investigation.
- With inputs from agencies
