President Donald Trump on Wednesday decried concerns over the transmission of military plans on the messaging app Signal.

“I think it’s all a witch hunt,” Trump said, borrowing the language of persecution that he has applied to the many investigations that have targeted him and his campaign over the years as he sought to deny the seriousness of the leak.

The president addressed reporters from the Oval Office on the same day top members of his intelligence team faced sharp questioning from House Democrats over their use of the consumer messaging app to discuss planned U.S. military airstrikes in Yemen.

Trump said he was ultimately not concerned about the leak, proclaiming “there was no harm done, because the attack was unbelievably successful.”

More messages were published Wednesday by The Atlantic, whose editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been inadvertently added to the group. Those messages showed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared critical details of the upcoming operation: most crucially, the precise timing of the launches from aircraft carriers of the U.S. military jets that were to strike Houthi targets.

“I think it’s all a witch hunt.”

President Donald Trump

In the group chat, Hegseth posted multiple details about the impending strike, using military language and laying out when a “strike window” starts, where a “target terrorist” was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used in the strike. He mentioned that the U.S. was “currently clean” on operational security.”

“Godspeed to our Warriors,” he wrote.

Hegseth’s texts, many of which started with military times, included: “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”

“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ- 9s)”

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”

“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFI- NITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”

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

“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”

“We are currently clean on OPSEC” — that is, operational security.

A strike package includes the personnel and weapons used in an attack, including Navy F-18 fighter aircraft. MQ-9s are armed drones. Tomahawks are shiplaunched cruise missiles.

Goldberg has said he asked the White House if it opposed publication and that the White House responded that it would prefer he did not publish.

Trump claimed Hegseth had no role in the text chain and was doing a “great job.”

Hegseth did not offer an apology in remarks in Hawaii, relying again on the semantic argument that his disclosures were not “war plans” but had been intended to “provide updates in real time.”

He did not address how a disclosure that he released 30 minutes before flights took off and two hours before the fighter jets began their strikes was “real time.”

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chair of the Senate panel that has oversight of the Pentagon, became the first member of his party to call for an independent review.

Wicker, one of the toughest Republican critics of Hegseth, and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said they would request an expedited investigation by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General.

But it is unclear who would oversee such an investigation: During the first week of his second term, Trump fired the inspector general at the Pentagon.

The official who added the journalist was Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who has said he takes “full responsibility.”

Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee during a hearing Wednesday heard from several of Trump’s national security team members who also were on the text chain.

Several Democrats on the panel said Hegseth should resign because of the leak.

“This is classified information. It’s a weapon system, as well as a sequence of strikes, as well as details of the operations,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois. “He needs to resign immediately.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe defended his use of Signal as “appropriate” and said questions over the Signal leak have overshadowed the military operation.

“What is most important is that the mission was a remarkable success,” he told lawmakers. “That’s what did happen, not what possibly could have happened.”

The discussion grew heated as Ratcliffe and Democratic lawmakers spoke over one another. At one point, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Ill., asked if Ratcliffe knew whether Hegseth was drinking alcohol when he participated in the chat.

“I think that’s an offensive line of questioning,”

Ratcliffe angrily replied. “The answer is no.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the conversation included “candid and sensitive” posts.

But even though the texts contained detailed information on military actions, Gabbard, Ratcliffe and the White House continued to say none of the information was classified — an assertion Democrats flatly rejected Wednesday.

“You all know that’s a lie,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, told Ratcliffe and Gabbard.