Magazine publishes US’ Yemen attack plan mistakenly shared in chat group

The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published what it said was the entire text of a chat group mistakenly shared with a journalist by top US national security officials laying out plans of an imminent attack on Yemen.

The stunning details, including the times of strikes and types of planes being used, were all laid out in screenshots of the chat, which the officials had conducted on a commercial Signal messaging app, rather than a secure government platform.

The magazine, which initially only published the broad outlines of the chat, said it was now publishing the details after the Trump administration repeatedly denied that any classified information had been included.

The scandal has rocked President Donald Trump’s administration, which for now is reacting defiantly – attacking The Atlantic and denying any wrongdoing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly responded to say The Atlantic was conceding “these were NOT ‘war plans.’ The entire story was another hoax”.

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes had said on Monday the chain cited by The Atlantic appeared to be “authentic”.