At her press briefing on Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt was asked about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's comments in a leaked Signal group chat.
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00:00hardworking Americans.
00:01Peter.
00:02Q Carolina, if I can ask you very quickly about the information we've seen, just to
00:05set the predicate to all this.
00:06Has the President been briefed and physically seen the – he's seen all the details of
00:11the chat as printed by the Atlantic?
00:12MS.
00:13HARFORS I just spoke to the President about it, yes.
00:14Q Okay.
00:15Then let me ask you, if I can, very quickly.
00:16In the chat, Pete Hegsath, the Defense Secretary, details F-18s, tomahawks, some of the weapons
00:22that were used.
00:23He details the timing involved for this, all of which occurred 31 minutes before, as he
00:28says, F-18s would launch.
00:31The DOD manual details classified information as significant military plans, saying that
00:37is secret, that that's classified.
00:39So what about – there are no methods, there are no sources, but that's not what determines
00:44what's classified.
00:45So what is it about what Pete Hegsath wrote that makes you say this is not classified?
00:50MS.
00:51HARFORS Well, it's not just me saying that, Peter.
00:52It's the Secretary of Defense himself who is saying this as well.
00:56And he put out a very strong statement earlier today listing all of the things that were
01:00not included in that message that he sent to the group.
01:03And again, this message – there was no classified information transmitted, there were no war
01:07plans discussed.
01:09Why did the Atlantic downgrade their allegation about war plans to attack plans?
01:14They're now playing word games because they know this was sensationalist spin from a reporter
01:18who is well known for doing this.
01:20We have said all along no war plans were discussed, no classified material was sent.
01:24You have the Secretary of Defense saying that, you have the Director of the CIA, the Director
01:28of National Intelligence, the FBI Director all testifying to that under oath, and they
01:33should be trusted with that.
01:34QUESTION To be clear, Americans can make the decision for themselves, but whether – is
01:37the —
01:38MS.
01:39HARFORS Sure.
01:40QUESTION You said it's not war plans.
01:41Would you characterize these as military plans, military operation plans?
01:46MS.
01:47HARFORS I would characterize this messaging thread as a policy discussion, a sensitive
01:50policy discussion, surely, amongst high-level Cabinet officials and senior staff.
01:55And I'm so glad, Peter, that you said the American public can decide for themselves,
02:00because I think the American public should decide for themselves based on the outcome
02:04of this operation.
02:05And what happened in this operation?
02:08Terrorists that were allowed to run wild by the Biden administration were killed because
02:12of the direction and the determination of this President and his team.
02:16And this message also shows – this messaging thread also proved that President Trump has
02:21an incredibly dynamic team who is working incredibly hard, flying all over the world
02:26to secure world peace and to fix up the foreign policy crises that the previous administration
02:32left for this team to inherit.
02:34QUESTION So to be clear, we all in this room and around the country would agree that we're
02:37glad no American service members were harmed and we're glad that the mission was a success.
02:41We'll stipulate that.
02:42But the President said that – Pete Hegseth said none of this was classified.
02:46So given the President has seen it now, and given the President understands that significant
02:50military plans are deemed classified as secret, how does the President view none of this,
02:56which details times and weapons and more, as being not classified?
03:01MS.
03:02HARF I've already been asked and answered this question.
03:04The President's thoughts on this remain the same today as they were yesterday, as
03:08well as the Secretary of Defense.
03:10This question has been asked and answered.
03:12There was no classified material discussed.