US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for his mistake of adding a journalist to a highly classified Signal group where high-ranking US officials planned military strikes in Yemen. On Tuesday, Waltz told Fox News, “I take full responsibility. I built the group,” and it was “embarrassing”.
Though there was no classified material shared in the group, US intelligence chiefs have downplayed the security risks. Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several lawmakers have described as a major breach.
On March 25, President Donald Trump threw his support behind his national security adviser, Michael Waltz. President Trump played down the incident, calling it a “glitch” that had “no impact at all” operationally.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC News, marking his first public comments since The Atlantic broke the story detailing how its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to the high-level chat.
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On Monday, Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he was accidentally added to the Signal chat by a user named Mike Waltz.
In his report, he mentioned he saw classified military plans for US strikes in Yemen, including weapons packages, targets and timing, two hours before the bombs struck. That content was held back from the piece.
During his interview with Fox News, Waltz was unable to explain how Goldberg came to be on the chat, but – contradicting Trump – he said a member of his staff was not responsible and another, unnamed contact of his was supposed to be there in Goldberg’s place.
He further added, “We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened,” and also said that Goldberg’s number had not been on his phone. “I can tell you for 100% I don’t know this guy,” Waltz said, adding that he had spoken to Elon Musk for help in finding out what happened.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe denied at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that no classified information was shared in the message chain.