Vice President J.D. Vance criticized The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg Wednesday for allegedly embellishing the content of a private text chat of high-ranking senior administration officials.
“It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had. But one thing in particular really stands out,” Mr. Vance said on X above a post by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich.
“Remember when he was attacking [CIA Director John] Ratcliffe for blowing the cover for a CIA agent? Turns out Ratcliffe was simply naming his chief of staff.”
Participants of the Signal chat, populated by Mr. Vance, high-ranking administration officials and their chiefs of staffs, were identified only by their first names or initials.
The Atlantic said it had declined to reveal the name of Mr. Ratcliffe’s chief of staff, which Mr. Goldberg told The Bulwark was an undercover operative whose cover Mr. Ratcliffe had blown. Mr. Ratcliffe disputed that claim at a House Intelligence hearing when he said he was simply naming his chief of staff.
The Atlantic said it had declined to reveal the name of Mr. Ratcliffe’s chief of staff, which was revealed by Mr. Ratcliffe in the chat, at the CIA’s request.
Mr. Budowich, in his post noted that The Atlantic had “already abandoned their bulls*** ’war plans’ narrative, and in releasing the full chat, they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people.”
The Trump White House Wednesday said that the messages in the Signal chat, to which Mr. Goldberg mistakenly added, contained no classified information.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who took part in the group chat that discussed the airstrikes March 15 against the Houthi militants before the attacks happened, said the leak had no classified information.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was contacted by the Atlantic after it was considering publishing the entire email chain of the Signal chat group, which she said did not include classified information but also that the White House did not want the messages released.
Following the story’s publication, Ms. Leavitt said on X that “These were NOT ’war plans’. This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”
