Mother Jones illustration; J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Amid efforts to downplay the extraordinary security lapse exposed by the Atlantic, the magazine on Wednesday published new exchanges that confirmed war plans—including launch times—of the upcoming mission to bomb Houthi targets across Yemen were discussed in the Signal chat that accidentally included the publication’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.
The decision to publish the messages, Goldberg and reporter Shane Harris wrote, came as the administration, including President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, smeared the publication and denied that classified information was discussed in the chat.
“The statements by Hegseth, [Director of National Intelligence Tulsi] Gabbard, [CIA director John] Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions,” the magazine wrote. “There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”
The messages, which you can read in their entirety here, appear to undermine the Trump administration’s claim that war plans were not included in the Signal chat. Yet in another staggering refusal to bend to reality, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that the release amounted to a concession by the Atlantic that the scandal was a “hoax.”
The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT “war plans.”
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 26, 2025
This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin. pic.twitter.com/atGrDd2ymr
