Washington [US], March 27: The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published additional details about a secret group chat between high-ranking US officials that included the magazine's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.
"There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that [US President Donald Trump's] advisers included in nonsecure communications channels," Goldberg and his co-author Shane Harris wrote in the story. "Especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared," they added.
In hearings and statements made on Tuesday, several US officials, including Trump, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and CIA Director John Ratcliffe said no classified materials were revealed in the chat.
But Goldberg says they are wrong In their original reporting about the incident, Goldberg and co-author Harris had refrained from publishing operational details out of consideration for the safety of US soldiers.
Among these is a message that Hegseth apparently sent just a few hours before a US strike against the Houthi militia in Yemen.
The Atlantic published that in the message sent at 11:44am (1544 GMT) on March 15, Hegseth describes the course and schedule of the upcoming military operation - including the take-off times of F-18 fighter jets, drones and planned target attacks.
Hegseth's message included: "Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME." Other chat members, including US Vice President JD Vance and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, also reveal the mission's details.
"The first target - their top missile guy - we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed," Waltz wrote.
Goldberg and Harris wrote that if such details had fallen into the wrong hands, there could have been serious consequences - especially for the US service personnel involved in the Yemen bombing. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune