The White House reacted furiously on Wednesday after The Atlantic magazine published messages between national security officials in a Signal group chat in their entirety, BBC reported.
US President Donald Trump called the reporting "all a witch hunt" and declared the publication a "failed magazine".
Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was inadvertently included in the chat among senior cabinet leaders, shared texts in which US defence secretary Pete Hegseth provided sensitive information such as detailed timetables and unit information ahead of a US strike in Yemen.
Goldberg said he decided to publish the information after the Trump administration accused him of lying that classified information was shared.
Officials continued to maintain that position after the new messages were published.
But some senior officials began to acknowledge the episode was a mistake, including Trump himself.
When asked by reporters who was to blame for allowing a journalist to view the Signal communications, Trump suggested his national security adviser.
At the White House news briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked Goldberg directly, accusing him of being an "anti-Trump hater" and "propagandists in the media" of pushing a "Signal hoax".
"The real story here is the overwhelming success of decisive military action against Houthi terrorists," Leavitt continued
"Mike Waltz, I guess he claimed responsibly," Trump said during an Oval Office press conference. "I was told it was Mike."
He added that Waltz "took responsibility".
Trump backed his Defence secretary, who posted a detailed run-down of the impending military operation to the group chat.
"Hegseth is doing a great job," Trump said. "He had nothing to do with this."
Trump also said that the Signal leak "doesn't bother me", but added the app "isn't very good".
He also referred to Goldberg as a "total sleazebag".
In an interview with the BBC, Goldberg said the Trump administration had sought to place the blame on a reporter rather than "actually acknowledging that they have a massive national security breach, and that they should just go fix it".
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who participated in the group chat, acknowledged during a visit to Jamaica on Wednesday that, "Obviously, someone made a mistake....a big mistake, and added a journalist."
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, also a chat participant, told the House Intelligence Committee that an "in-depth review" would be conducted by the National Security Council to determine how the reporter was added.
She also acknowledged it was a mistake, even as she insisted the no classified information was shared.
President Trump described the episode as "not a big deal", while National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who set up the group, said on Tuesday night that he took "full responsibility" for it.
Democrats meanwhile called for Hegseth to resign, saying that the information he shared inadvertently with a journalist could have risked American servicemembers' lives if they had been obtained by a US adversary.
The messages released in full by the Atlantic include details of the US military's strike "package" for the Yemen strikes - a military term which refers to a set of aircraft or weapons systems that will participate in an operation.
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