Mike Waltz Accepts Responsibility for Accidental Inclusion of Journalist in Military Plan
Mike Waltz takes responsibility for mistakenly adding a journalist to a military chat regarding Yemen strikes. He cited a technical error and expressed commitment to understanding the mistake. President Trump defended Waltz, asserting no classified information was shared and minimizing the importance of the incident, despite some political backlash. The Atlantic commented on the incident in defense of its reporting.
United States National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accepted full responsibility for an inadvertent error that led to a journalist being included in a military planning group chat regarding strikes in Yemen. During an interview with Fox News, Waltz stated, “I take full responsibility. I built the group; my job is to make sure everything’s coordinated.” He admitted to not personally knowing the added journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, and described the incident as embarrassing, pledging, “We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
Waltz mentioned that he had consulted with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, emphasizing that “we’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.” He acknowledged the mistake, attributing it to a misidentification while saving Goldberg’s contact number. He likened it to confusing contact information by name, stating, “Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else’s number?”
The incident raised concerns when Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, was mistakenly included in a group discussing operations against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen via the encrypted messaging app Signal, widely used among government officials. Although Goldberg refrained from publishing the specific military plans, his article noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared operational details regarding the upcoming strikes.
In response to inquiries about the situation, President Donald Trump minimized the incident, asserting that no classified information was shared. He remarked, “There was no classified information,” and dismissed concerns about the Atlantic’s publication, referencing it as a magazine “that’s going out of business.” Furthermore, Trump defended Waltz, asserting that he would remain in his position despite calls for resignations from various Democrats, stating, “He’s not getting fired,” and emphasized that it was merely a mistake without significant repercussions.
The Atlantic released a statement addressing attempts to discredit their reporting, invoking a common critique aimed at journalists and their First Amendment rights.
In conclusion, Mike Waltz has publicly accepted accountability for mistakenly including a journalist in sensitive military discussions concerning Yemen. While the error has raised alarms regarding national security protocols, both President Trump and Waltz have downplayed its significance, maintaining that no classified information was compromised. The incident underscores the challenges of communication technology in sensitive governmental operations and the complexities involved in civilian and military interaction.
Original Source: www.livemint.com
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