The US' national security adviser who was referred to as a 'f**king idiot' by an anonymous official has taken 'full responsibility' for adding a journalist to a confidential group chat where war plans were being discussed.
The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a top-secret chat on the encrypted Signal app, which contained private military plans.
Earlier this week, Goldberg said he witnessed a lot of information, including the Trump administration’s planning of the 15 March airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
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In a recent interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, security adviser Mike Waltz said he 'built the group' chat and that his 'job is to make sure everything’s coordinated'.
He claimed that Goldberg's number was under a different name when it was added.
The White House official said: "Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else’s number there?
"So, of course I didn’t see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else.
"Now, whether he did it deliberately or it happened by some other technical means is something we’re trying to figure out."
Waltz said that the Trump administration is working to 'get to the bottom of it' all.
"I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys, and gone to Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States," he added.
"And he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group.
"I just talked to Elon on the way here. We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened.
"But I can tell you for 100 percent — I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation. And he really is the bottom scum of journalists."
A spokesperson for the National Security Council, Brian Hughes, said in a statement to the BBC: "At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic.
"We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy co-ordination between senior officials."
Meanwhile, The Atlantic has responded to the criticism from Waltz and others in the administration defending the breach of security.
The publication said in part: “Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans.”
This comes after an anonymous official said in a statement to Politico that Waltz was a 'f**king idiot'.
LADbible Group has reached out to Jeffrey Goldberg for comment.
Topics: Politics, Donald Trump, US News
Anish Vij