Former national security officials say air strike plans shared with journalist should have been classified
Former national security officials and Democrats rejected the Trump administration’s assertion that no secrets were disclosed when detailed U.S. air strike plans were inadvertently shared with a journalist on Signal.
Former senior national security officials and Democratic lawmakers rejected on Wednesday the Trump administration’s continued assertion that detailed U.S. airstrike plans inadvertently shared with a journalist were not classified.
They cited The Atlantic's publication of a full transcript of the Signal text exchange where the administration's top national security officials discussed planned U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the magazine, shared the precise timing of planned fighter jet and drone launches, when bombs would hit their targets and disclosed a U.S. attempt to kill a "target terrorist." Hegseth, though, did not include specific targeting locations for the strikes in Yemen.
But four former national security and intelligence officials who handled legal matters told NBC News that information about an upcoming military attack on an adversary — including types of weapons and the timing of airstrikes — is considered classified.
“I don’t think there is any question that we are dealing with classified information,” Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and defense secretary, told MSNBC on Tuesday.
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