Top Trump Intel Officials Face Congress Music Over Yemen War Plan Leaks

Donald Trump administration’s top intelligence officials face Congress this week to offer their first testimony in office about the threats facing the US and tackle critical questions about the security breach that unfolded  with the mistaken leak to the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, through Signal, a group chat app. 

FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are among the top officials who will appear on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee in back-to-back hearings.

The hearing takes place a day after news broke that several senior national security officials in the Republican administration, including Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, texted plans for military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app, Signal, that included Goldberg. 

This came a day after Goldberg revealed in an article that Trump administration officials disclosed to him crucial military details about air strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebel targets on March 15, hours before the United States carried out the attack.

The veteran journalist said the government officials accidentally added him to the texting channel where they mapped out the strikes.


Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, has refuted Goldberg's version, stating that he was  well-known for his sensationalist spin. 

Leavitt presented these "facts" about his latest story in her twitter feed: 

No “war plans” were discussed.

No classified material was sent to the thread. 

The White House Counsel’s Office has provided guidance on a number of different platforms for President Trump’s top officials to communicate as safely and efficiently as possible. As the National Security Council stated, the White House is looking into how Goldberg’s number was inadvertently added to the thread. Thanks to the strong and decisive leadership of President Trump, and everyone in the group, the Houthi strikes were successful and effective. Terrorists were killed and that’s what matters most to President Trump.