U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed information regarding a March attack on Yemen‘s Iran-aligned Houthis in a messaging group that included his wife, brother, and personal attorney, as reported by a source familiar with the situation to Reuters on Sunday.
The emergence of a second Signal chat raises further concerns about Hegseth’s use of an unclassified messaging platform to communicate sensitive security information, particularly as he faces scrutiny following the dismissal of senior officials from the Pentagon last week amid an internal leak investigation.
In this second chat, Hegseth shared information about the attack that echoed details previously published by The Atlantic magazine. This earlier disclosure occurred after the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to a separate Signal chat involving top national security officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, leading to an embarrassing situation.
According to the anonymous source, the second chat comprised around a dozen participants and was established during Hegseth’s confirmation process to address administrative matters rather than intricate military strategies. The conversation included specifics about the timing of the airstrikes.
Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former producer for Fox News, has participated in sensitive meetings with foreign military officials, as evidenced by publicly available images from the Pentagon. During a March meeting with his British counterpart at the Pentagon, she was observed seated behind him. Hegseth’s brother serves as a liaison to the Pentagon for the Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration has taken a strong stance against leaks, a campaign that Hegseth has actively supported within the Pentagon. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell claimed, without providing evidence, that the media was “enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article.”
The media, which has shown a strong aversion to Trump, remains fixated on undermining anyone who supports President Trump’s initiatives. “We have accomplished a great deal for the American warfighter and will not waver,” Parnell stated on X.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly remarked that “recently dismissed ‘leakers’ are distorting the truth to mend their bruised egos and sabotage the President’s agenda.”
TUMULTUOUS MOMENT FOR HEGSETH
Democratic lawmakers have asserted that Hegseth should no longer retain his position. “We continue to uncover how Pete Hegseth has endangered lives,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X. “Yet Trump remains too feeble to dismiss him. Pete Hegseth must be terminated.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who sustained serious injuries in 2004, stated that Hegseth “must resign in disgrace.”
A U.S. official at the Pentagon expressed disbelief that Hegseth could maintain his role following the latest developments.
This news follows the recent dismissal of Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth’s top advisers, who was removed from the Pentagon after being implicated in a leak investigation at the Department of Defense.
While Caldwell may not be as prominent as other senior Pentagon figures, he has been instrumental for Hegseth and was designated as the Pentagon’s liaison by the Secretary in the initial Signal chat.
“We are extremely disheartened by how our service at the Department of Defense concluded,” Caldwell posted on X on Saturday. “Unnamed Pentagon officials have tarnished our reputation with unfounded accusations as we departed.”
In the wake of Caldwell’s exit, less-senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently took on the role of Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were placed on administrative leave and subsequently terminated on Friday.
Discover more from Defence Talks | Defense News Hub, Military Updates, Security Insights
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
