The Atlantic on Wednesday released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf of the United States were airborne.

The disclosure follows two intense days during which leaders of President Donald Trump’s intelligence and defense agencies have struggled to explain how details — that current and former US officials have said would have been classified — wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said no classified information was posted to the Signal chat.

Sen Roger Wicker, R-Miss, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Rhode Island Sen Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, plan to send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an inspector general investigation into the use of Signal.

They seek a classified briefing with a top administration official “who can speak to the facts” of the episode. Top military official was not included in the chat. The chat was also notable for who it excluded: the only military attendee of the principals committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Adm Christopher Grady is currently serving in that position in an acting capacity because Trump fired former chairman Gen CQ Brown Jr in February.

National security adviser Mike Waltz was authorised to decide whether to include the Joint Chiefs chairman in principals committee discussion, "based on the policy relevance of attendees to the issues being considered, the need for secrecy on sensitive matters, staffing needs, and other considerations,” the White House said on January 20.

The Pentagon said it would not comment on the issue, and it was not immediately clear why Grady, currently serving as the president’s top military adviser, would not be included in a discussion on military strikes.

Hegseth has refused to say whether he posted classified information onto Signal. He is traveling in the Indo-Pacific and to date has only scoffed at questions, saying he did not reveal “war plans.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that it was up to Hegseth to determine whether the information he was posting was classified or not.

“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”