WASHINGTON – Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the panel is asking for a quick general inspection of inspectors. Sensitive Signal Group Chat Leak Recently, the Yemen strike has surprised Washington.
Earlier this week, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group of encrypted messaging apps. Trump’s top official We discussed sensitive plans to attack targets in Yemen. On Wednesday, the day after alleged that “no war plan” was debated, Atlantic Defense Secretary Pete Hegses released more text screenshots of text that provided operational details about the timing of the strike and the weapons and aircraft that carry them out.
Speaking to Capitol reporters after the latest release, Wicker detailed the committee’s progress. He said he and ranking member Jack Reid, a Rhode Island Democrat, will send a letter asking the administration to facilitate an investigation by the Department of Defense inspector’s office and provide the committee with the findings. The chairman said another letter to the administration would ask for “to obtain earthly truth,” and he pointed out that the committee wanted to determine whether the published transcript was accurate.
Sources told CBS News Wednesday evening that Wicker and Reid were working on a potential letter calling for three key items to the White House. Classified briefings, rapid investigation from inspectors, signal recording, security, usage, details and clarity of text exchanges themselves.
The letter is likely to be finalized by the end of this week, but discussions are ongoing and the timing has not yet been decided, sources said.
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Wicker also pointed out to reporters that the published information “seems to me that it is of a very sensitive nature, and based on my knowledge, I wanted to classify it.” Intelligence Reports Related I said it again Testimony on Wednesday said that chat information was not classified, a claim filled with intense skepticism from Democrats and former government officials, taking into account the nature of the information revealed by Hegses.
The Trump administration fired a Pentagon inspector shortly after President Trump took office. This is part of a broader purge of internal watchdogs at agencies across the government. The Pentagon’s IG office is now directed on the acting basis by Stephen Stebbins, formerly the Chief Associate Inspector. He asked if the Pentagon was confident in complying with the inspector’s general investigation request, considering the vacancy, Wicker said.
Wicker said he and Reid are seeking a briefing that was classified as a senior management official and “relatively early” Armed Services Committee.
“The chairs and ranking members work together on a bipartisan basis, as we always try to do,” Wicker said.
The Mississippi Republican defended the mission at the heart of the group chat, saying, “The strike against Hoosis was a very successful mission and I have greatly approved it.” He said, “It’s a shame because this security question is so successful internationally, and that we are all successful on a massive scale.”
Earlier in the day, Wicker said he did not believe Hegses should resign. Asked later about the consequences he should face, Wicker said he “is glad that in this case no real damage was done.”
“The fact is that the strike, timing, location plans were not revealed to the enemy, and it was a very successful operation,” Wicker said. “I hope that if there are any mistakes early in this administration, they can fix them. …If a mistake is made, we are all human and they should be recognized.”
Robert Costa and Jennifer Jacobs contributed to this report.
