JD Vance sent a message in a Signal group following the March report about secret Yemen strike plans being accidentally leaked by top U.S. officials. His comment apparently made light of the situation. The Vice President’s Signal Chat was released in an 84-page report from the Defense Department inspector general on Wednesday.
The same report also accused the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of putting U.S. troops in danger after he accidentally added a journalist to the Signal chat with his fellow top officials. The chat room included JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Hegseth himself, among others. However, the Defense Secretary mistakenly added The Atlantic‘s Editor in Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, risking the security and safety of U.S. troops.
This massive blunder happened back in March, when Pete Hegseth was a newbie at his role, and critics felt he was not fit for it. This report was released back on March 24. A day later, Vance made a light comment about the situation, which has now been revealed.
Unearthed text message reveals JD Vance texted the Hegseth Signal group at 2:26 AM:
“This chat’s kind of dead. Anything going on?” pic.twitter.com/XXsgAhyx8u
— FactPost (@factpostnews) December 4, 2025
According to a release from the agency on Wednesday, the Vice President wrote in the same Signal chat, “This chat’s kind of dead. Anything going on?” According to the Pentagon investigators, no one immediately responded to Vance’s question.
However, as per a partial transcript, Ratcliffe changed his name to “John,” while “MAR” became “MR.” Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was also in the chatroom, updated his settings to make his texts disappear automatically after eight hours.
The report also concluded that Hegseth violated crucial federal rules by sending the texts from his personal phone. However, he continues to maintain that he did not send any classified material in the Signal chat.
“If this information had fallen into the hands of U.S. adversaries, Houthi forces might have been able to counter U.S. forces or reposition personnel and assets to avoid planned U.S. strikes,” the Defense Department report said.
Full Signal text chain has been released.
There’s nothing in it but the pros and cons of striking now vs waiting a month.
It’s not war plans. It’s not classified info.
It’s a conversation, and nice to see cabinet members and staffers hashing out the best way to move forward.… pic.twitter.com/OTNYgHr3VP
— Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) March 26, 2025
Meanwhile, the accusations against Hegseth come when he is already in hot water for allegedly allowing a second U.S. military strike on the Caribbean Sea. The attack has allegedly killed two people on board the drug-carrying vessel, who survived the first strike. Despite being accused of war crimes, Hegseth dismissed the reports, saying they are “fake news.”
The accusation came to light following an article by The Washington Post on Friday. According to the latest reports, it is currently under investigation.
