Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said the White House is “in denial” over The Atlantic’s explosive report about a text chain with senior-level administration officials — and, inadvertently, a reporter — that discussed plans for a U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen.
Bacon — a former brigadier general in the Air Force who specialized in intelligence — took a swipe at the White House after The Atlantic on Wednesday published the full text exchange from Signal chat, which Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included on. Wednesday morning’s report showed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing sensitive information regarding the operation, including timing, weapons and targets, ahead of it being carried out.
“The WH is in denial that this was not classified or sensitive data. They should just own up to it and preserve credibility,” Bacon told The Hill.
Bacon expressed a similar sentiment in a virtual town hall Tuesday evening, saying those involved should stop targeting the journalist who broke the story and accept responsibility for their mistakes.
“Thus far, they have not,” Bacon said, the Nebraska Examiner reported. “I want people to take responsibility for their actions. Blaming the reporter, blaming [The] Atlantic is not taking responsibility.”
The full text exchange released by The Atlantic on Wednesday showed Vice President Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Hegseth discussing the merits of the planned attack. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were also included, among others.
The morning of the attack, Hegseth sent a message that said “TEAM UPDATE,” which included the timeline of the strike, the weapons involved and information about the targets. After the attack, Waltz notified the group about conditions at the attack site and more details regarding the targets.
Goldberg said he decided to release the full exchange, after initially leaving out the messages detailing the attack, following comments from administration officials downplaying the conversation. Hegseth, for example, said “nobody was texting war plans,” Gabbard told senators during a hearing Tuesday that “there was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group,” and Ratcliffe said “my communications, to be clear, in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.”
President Trump echoed those comments, saying “it wasn’t classified information.”
The publication of the full conversation has heightened the criticism surrounding the Signal chat and the administration, with more and more Democrats calling for Hegseth to resign. Trump, however, has not given any indication that he plans to remove Hegseth or Waltz from their posts.
Gabbard addressed the situation during a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday morning, saying Waltz has taken responsibility for what went wrong.
“The president and national security adviser Waltz held a press conference yesterday with a clear message: It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with high-level national security principals having a policy discussion about imminent strikes against the Houthis and the effects of the strike,” Gabbard said. “National security adviser has taken full responsibility for this, and the National Security Council is conducting an in-depth review along with technical experts working to determine how this reporter was inadvertently added to this chat.”
Sarah Fortinsky contributed.
