Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, March 21, 2025. Hegseth disclosed war plans in an encrypted chat group that included a journalist two hours before U.S. troops launched attacks against the Houthi militia in Yemen, the White House said on Monday, March 24, 2025, confirming an account in the magazine The Atlantic. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
- Intelligence leaders Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe insist no classified material was shared in the encrypted group chat.
- Lawmakers from both parties condemn the security lapse, with some calling for resignations.
- Trump defends National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, blaming staff for adding a journalist to the chat, while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismisses the story as “sensationalist.”
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Two of the Trump administration’s top intelligence officials denied that classified information was shared in an encrypted group chat in which details of an attack on Yemen were discussed in the presence of a journalist who had been mistakenly added to the conversation.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding a previously scheduled briefing on global threats with Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; and FBI Director Kash Patel. Pressed repeatedly about the security breach, Gabbard and Ratcliffe both denied that classified material had been shared in the chat. Patel declined to say if the FBI had begun an investigation.
The White House also sought to downplay the serious nature of the extraordinary security breach, as bipartisan criticism of the incident grew Tuesday and leading Democrats called for the resignation of the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, who set up the group chat, and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who reportedly shared classified war plans in it.
Here Are the Latest Developments:
— Defending Waltz: President Donald Trump defended Waltz, saying in an interview with NBC News that the national security adviser had “learned a lesson” and suggested a staff member was to blame for including a journalist in the secret group chat.
— Bipartisan criticism: The vice chair of the intelligence committee, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., denounced what he called “sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior” by the country’s top intelligence officials. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters that the White House should “be honest and own up” to what happened.
— Damage control: The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said no classified material was sent to the group chat, despite the inclusion of specific details of the Yemen strike before it took place, and she attacked the journalist who revealed it, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, as “sensationalist.” Her statement came a day after Hegseth suggested the leak was a “hoax.”
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By The New York Times/Haiyun Jiang
c. 2025 The New York Times Company
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