The Atlantic journalist who was added to the Signal group chat with some of the most senior members of the Trump administration has rubbished the White House’s claims about his story.
Speaking on The Bulwark podcast with Tim Miller, Jeffrey Goldberg discussed his bombshell story and the US government’s response.
He said he wouldn’t publish more of the conversation, adding the White House was “wrong – they’re wrong.”
What the White House said
The White House has claimed that no “war plans” were discussed in the group chat.
It also said that no classified material was sent to the group either.
Read the press secretary’s scathing tweet below:
What Goldberg said
Speaking to Miller, Goldberg said: “It [the group] was a timeline of coming attacks, the weapon systems used in these attacks, some very specific targeting information – who they are trying to kill in the next two hours.
“To me, that sounds like an attack plan. A war plan.
“Literally, they are talking ‘godspeed to our men’, they understand they are about to send Americans into harm’s way.”
However, Goldberg seemingly ruled out releasing more of the messages, even to prove his point.
He added: “Just because they’re irresponsible with material doesn’t mean that I’m going to be irresponsible with this material.
“And you know what? I could.”
“My obligation, I feel, is to the idea that we take national security information seriously,” Goldberg said.
To classify or not to classify?
Goldberg said the conversation about the information’s classification level was “interesting”, but refused to be drawn on it.
The information in the chat included the name of an undercover CIA agent, he added.
Earlier, we reported on a former Biden official explaining how Trump’s team may be trying to get around the claims of classification – see our 18:15 post.
Watch: A reminder of Goldberg’s earlier reaction – when he told NBC he was convinced he was being ‘spoofed’