Top U.S. Officials Accidentally Leak Yemen Airstrike Plans in Signal Chat

In a rare and unprecedented incident, a group of high-ranking U.S. officials, including then-Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Advisor John Bolton, were inadvertently included in a Signal group chat discussing a planned airstrike on Yemen. The chat, which was intended to be a private discussion among top officials, was mistakenly shared with an external individual, leading to a rare scandal within the U.S. government.

The incident, revealed by Jeffrey Goldberg, highlights the potential risks of using encrypted messaging platforms for sensitive government communications. The group chat, which included discussions about the planned airstrike on Houthi rebels in Yemen, was meant to be a secure channel for high-level officials to coordinate their response to the crisis. However, the inclusion of an external individual in the chat raised concerns about the security of the communications and the potential for sensitive information to be leaked.

According to Goldberg, he was pulled into the Signal group chat by then-National Security Advisor John Bolton. Other participants in the chat included then-Vice President Mike Pence, then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, among others. The group was named "Houthi PC Group," which typically refers to a committee meeting that includes cabinet members and other high-level security officials.

During the chat, Pence expressed his belief that the Trump administration had made a mistake by announcing an indefinite operation against the Houthi rebels. He emphasized the potential for oil prices to surge due to the rebels' concentrated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and noted that the operation had "saved Europe."

Bolton responded by suggesting that the costs of the airstrike on Yemen should be billed to Europe. He stated that he was working with relevant departments to determine "how to calculate the relevant costs and bill them to the Europeans."

Esper, who supported the military action, acknowledged Pence's concerns but emphasized the risks of the plan being leaked or Israel launching a strike before the U.S., which could compromise the U.S. government's ability to act on its own terms. Esper also revealed details about the deployment of U.S. military and intelligence personnel in the Middle East, the sequence of targets to be struck, and the specific weapons to be used.

The White House National Security Council spokesperson, Brian Hughes, acknowledged the authenticity of the leaked message chain, stating that officials were reviewing the incident of an individual being inadvertently added to the group chat. Hughes also emphasized that high-level officials had engaged in thorough and well-considered policy coordination while executing Trump's national security strategy, and that the ongoing success of the Houthi operation indicated that U.S. military personnel and national security had not been compromised.

However, the most absurd aspect of the incident was that the highest-level political and military officials in the U.S. were discussing an imminent military operation on a non-secure channel. Multiple Trump administration officials expressed shock at the incident, with some predicting that resignations might follow.

The White House Press Secretary, Caroline Leavitt, stated that Trump continued to have "the utmost confidence" in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Bolton. During a press conference on Monday, Trump himself did not provide a clear stance on the matter, merely stating that he was unaware of the incident.

The U.S. Congress was also abuzz with the scandal. While Democratic lawmakers called for accountability, even Republican members struggled to defend the administration. Representative Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former Air Force brigadier general, stated, "We all make mistakes and send messages to the wrong person, but the unforgivable act is sending these messages over an insecure network."

Adding to the irony, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was embroiled in the "emailgate" scandal in 2016, quipped on Monday, "You've got to be kidding me." The current Trump administration, including Bolton, had previously criticized Clinton for storing sensitive intelligence information on a private server.