Sources say the details shared by Hegseth in Signal chat were classified as Atlantic publishes additional messages

Washington (CNN) — The information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat of top Trump national security officials was highly classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense official familiar with the operation and another source who was briefed on it afterward.

The updates Hegseth was giving in the Signal chat were the kind of real-time play-by-play that a commander would be giving to the president in a highly classified setting as the operation unfolded.

“These are operational plans that are highly classified in order to protect the service members,” the defense official said.

A third source familiar with the matter said they saw documents sent within the Pentagon about the operation, which were marked classified and included the same information Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat about specific weapons platforms and timing.

“It was classified when it was shared below the principal level,” this person said.

The Atlantic on Wednesday published additional text messages from the Signal group chat, underscoring a massive breach in operational security as specific sensitive information about the Houthi attack was shared in the chat before it was carried out.

President Donald Trump and his team have repeatedly sought to downplay the sensitivity of the information shared in the Signal group in the aftermath of The Atlantic’s bombshell story on Monday. While they denied there was a “war plan” shared, the text messages published Wednesday offer an extremely detailed description of the coming strike, including the airplanes and drones used.

“It is safe to say that anybody in uniform would be court martialed for this,” the defense official added. “We don’t provide that level of information on unclassified systems, in order to protect the lives and safety of the servicemembers carrying out these strikes. If we did, it would be wholly irresponsible. My most junior analysts know not to do this.”

A former senior US military commander said the information shared would allow adversaries to evacuate targeted areas ranging from command and control centers, to communication sites and firing positions. Moreover, it would allow them to mass anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons to overwhelm US pilots.

“Until the strike goes it’s absolutely classified as the lives of our pilots depend on secrecy,” the former commander said.

The messages also rebut the claim from Hegseth and other Trump administration officials that war plans were not discussed on the chain. In a message sent at 11:44 a.m. ET and published by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris, Hegseth shares operational details about the strikes: “Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,” Hegseth wrote.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said on Wednesday that he and the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jack Reed, are formally asking the administration for an Inspector General report on the Signal chat for the committee to review and a classified briefing from a senior official.

Wicker said the information in the chat was “of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified.”

Top US officials have said the information shared in the text messages was not classified.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who was one of the participants in the group chat, acknowledged on Tuesday that “pre-decisional strike deliberation should be conducted through classified channels.”

The Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell acknowledged on Wednesday that Hegseth shared information on the US military’s strikes on Yemen while the operation was underway.

“These additional Signal chat messages confirm there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The Secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway and had already been briefed through official channels. The American people see through the Atlantic’s pathetic attempts to distract from President Trump’s national security agenda,” Parnell said in a statement.

Detailed plans shared

Hegseth goes on to share the plans in extraordinary detail, according to The Atlantic:

• 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
• “1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
• “1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
• “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
• “1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”

That information, according to The Atlantic, was received “two hours before the scheduled start of the bombing of Houthi positions.”

“If this information — particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen — had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face,” Goldberg and Harris wrote.

National security adviser Mike Waltz later texted to confirm that the target was in a building that collapsed and the strike was successful.

“The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed,” Waltz wrote at 2 p.m. ET.

And later in the day, Hegseth confirmed to the group that more strikes were coming.

“Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far,” he said.

The release of the messages appeared to undercut Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony on Tuesday, where she said it was to her knowledge that weapons packages, targets and timing weren’t part of the conversations in the Signal chat.

Gabbard on Wednesday doubled down on the administration’s insistence that no classified information was shared in the now-infamous chat.

“The conversation was candid and sensitive, but as the president, National Security Advisor stated, no classified information was shared,” Gabbard told the House Intelligence Committee. “There were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared. This was a standard update to the national security cabinet that was provided alongside updates that were given to foreign partners in the region.”

She also said Hegseth was ultimately responsible for deciding what in that conversation should or should not have been classified: “Ultimately, the Secretary of Defense holds the authority to classify or declassify.”

Goldberg said on Wednesday the magazine decided to redact a sensitive piece of information out of their follow-up article.

“We did redact one piece of information because we felt, on our own, that we felt it was best to do. And the CIA asked us, but, you know, at a certain point, the administration is saying that there’s nothing classified or secret or sensitive in these so at a certain point, I just felt, you know, let our readers decide for themselves,” he said on MSNBC of the decision to publish the rest of the information.

Trump and White House downplay sensitivity

Trump distanced himself from the Signal chat when asked Wednesday afternoon if he still believes that the information shared was not classified, saying he’s “not sure.”

“Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know. I’m not sure, you have to ask the various people involved,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump also said Waltz had assumed responsibility for the error, but he shrugged off any culpability on the part of Hegseth, who sent the timeline of the planned attack before it was underway.

“How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do with it,” Trump said, sounding surprised a reporter would raise the issue. Earlier, the White House said Trump had looked at Hegseth’s messages that were included in the text chain published by The Atlantic.

“It’s all a witch-hunt,” Trump said.

Moments after The Atlantic published the text messages, the White House continued to push back and seek to discredit Goldberg’s reporting, though the National Security Council has verified the authenticity of the text thread.

“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans.’ This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post to social media.

Leavitt is also pushing back against concerns that Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy for the Middle East, who was on the group chat, was receiving the texts while in Moscow. Witkoff, she said, “was provided a secure line of communication by the U.S. Government, and it was the only phone he had in his possession while in Moscow,” going on to shift blame to the media.

Goldberg criticized Leavitt’s response to the news during his MSNBC appearance and said “she’s just playing some sort of weird semantic game.”

CNN military analyst retired Col. Cedric Leighton said the details have “all the elements of a war plan, and what that means is, all of these elements mean that this stuff is classified. Full stop. There is no question this is classified.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Jim Sciutto, Michael Williams, Morgan Rimmer, Ted Barrett and Kit Maher contributed reporting.

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