Photo credit: arstechnica.com
White House Sought to Prevent Text Release
In the lead-up to a follow-up article, The Atlantic reached out to officials from the Trump administration regarding the potential publication of full text messages. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt provided the following response via email:
“As we have consistently stated, there was no classified information communicated in the group chat. However, both the CIA Director and the National Security Advisor have indicated today that this does not mean we endorse the publication of the conversation. The discussion was meant to remain an internal and private deliberation among senior staff, during which sensitive topics were covered. Therefore, we object to the release for these reasons.”
Despite the White House’s objections, The Atlantic proceeded to publish the messages. The report highlighted that Leavitt’s statement did not specify which aspects of the texts the administration found sensitive, nor did it clarify how their disclosure could impact national security more than a week following the initial air strikes.
On the following Monday, the National Security Council announced it was “looking into how a phone number was unintentionally included in the conversation.” Meanwhile, Trump expressed his support for Waltz regarding the situation, although reports from Politico indicated that the former president was frustrated and suspicious over Waltz having the contact number of The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, stored in his phone. An unnamed source cited by Politico remarked, “The president was upset that Waltz could be so careless.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced that the committee would conduct an investigation into the matter, as noted by The Hill. “We’re going to look into this and see what the facts are, but it’s definitely a concern. And you can be sure the committee, both House and Senate, will be examining this… Clearly, mistakes were made,” he stated.
The White House indicated that its review is being handled by the National Security Council, the White House Counsel’s office, and a team led by Elon Musk. “Elon Musk has volunteered to involve his technical experts to investigate how this number was mistakenly added to the chat, as part of our efforts to take responsibility and prevent this from happening again,” Leavitt informed reporters.
Source
arstechnica.com