National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accepted “full responsibility” on Tuesday after mistakenly including the editor-in-chief of Atlantic in the Signal Chat group where debates over the military strike against Yemen's Houtis were held.
“Look, the staff weren't responsible,” Waltz told Fox News in his first media interview since Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he knew about the Trump administration's internal deliberations and plans for the March 15 airstrike.
“Look, I'm totally responsible,” Waltz added. “I've built a group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated.”
White House officials claimed he didn't know when he was forced onto the “Ingraham Angle” hosts as to why Goldberg's numbers had been on the phone from the start.
“Have you ever had someone's contact information to show you your name? The waltz started.
“So, of course, I never saw this loser in the group,” he continued, referring to Goldberg, which many consider to be Trump's antagonist. “It looked like someone else.
“Now, we're trying to understand whether he did that intentionally or it happened by other technical means.”
Waltz described the incident as “embarrassing,” but vowed that the White House would “get to the bottom.”
“I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but of all the people there, somehow, I went all kinds of lengths to lie to the Gold Star family, to lie to lawyers, to lie to Russian hoaxes, to lie, to liarize the US president.
The national security adviser said he does not believe Goldberg, which he described as “despicable,” was intentionally added to the group by fraudulent White House staff.
Waltz suggested that high-tech tycoon and government efficiency director Elon Musk could help the White House understand what happened.
“We talked to Elon along the way here,” Waltz said. “I have the best technical mind to see how this happened.”
“But I can tell you 100% – I don't know this guy. I know him with his horrible reputation, and he's really the bottom scum of a journalist,” he said fiercely about Goldberg.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.
