Speaking as a former naval aviator (515 missions during the Vietnam War), the content of the Signal texts that the Atlantic published categorically refute Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s assertion that no classified information was discussed. Here’s why the texts’ references to the attack were top secret:

The White House continued to downplay the seriousness of the incident, parsing semantics and attacking the journalist who was inadvertently added to the chat.

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee requested an investigation Thursday into how Trump national security officials used the Signal app to discuss military strikes and a federal judge said he would order the preservation of the messages,

Sen. Chuck Grassley said he didn't read transcripts of the text messages and "probably won't" but said they weren't classified information.

A Pentagon-wide advisory that went out one week ago warned against using Signal, the messaging app, even for unclassified information.

The White House on Monday said it was “moving forward” from the fallout surrounding the leak of sensitive military plans to a journalist in a Signal group chat among top administration officials—even as some Republicans push for an independent investigation.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Israel was “incredibly angry” about the plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen leaked in a Signal group chat with Trump administration officials and a journalist.

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee are asking the Defense Department's inspector general to probe the Signal chat.

The military takes extraordinary measures to keep combat operations secret, cutting off outside communications for service members before launching an attack.