Importance Score: 85 / 100 🟢
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly utilized his personal mobile phone to transmit details regarding U.S. military operations in Yemen to a Signal group chat comprising 13 individuals, including his spouse and sibling, according to two sources familiar with the situation who spoke with NBC News.
This action occurred after an aide had cautioned him to exercise prudence regarding sharing delicate information on an unsecured communication system prior to the Yemen operation, the sources indicated.
This development follows approximately a month after public disclosure that Hegseth had disseminated specifics of strikes in Yemen within a separate Signal chat involving high-ranking administration officials. The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was mistakenly included in that communication thread.
The existence of this secondary Signal chat was initially reported by The New York Times.
Citing four anonymous sources, The Times stated that some sources indicated the information Hegseth conveyed in the second chat – such as the flight schedule of FA-18 aircraft – appeared analogous to information he had shared in the Signal chat involving The Atlantic’s editor. One source corroborated this information to NBC News.
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Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, refuted claims that Hegseth had shared classified materials. “There was no classified information in any Signal chat,” he asserted on X.
Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, minimized the importance of the secondary group chat.
“Regardless of how frequently the legacy media attempts to revive this non-story, they cannot alter the reality that no classified information was disseminated,” she stated.
While thirteen individuals participated in the second Signal group chat, no other cabinet-level officers were among them, according to the two sources.
Participants included Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff; Darin Selnick, his deputy chief of staff; Eric Geressy, a retired Army sergeant major and adviser to Hegseth; Tim Parlatore, a legal adviser to Hegseth and a Navy commander in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps; Hegseth’s brother, Phil, senior adviser to Hegseth for the Department of Homeland Security; and Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, as per the two sources.
In March, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal chat with numerous national security leaders. On this platform, Hegseth reportedly shared operational plans for strikes against military targets in Yemen before their execution. That particular chat is currently under investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general.
In both instances, Hegseth reportedly used his personal phone, rather than his official device, the two sources confirmed.
Hegseth faced increased scrutiny last month following revelations that his wife, a former Fox News producer, attended sensitive Defense Department meetings with British and NATO officials. Jennifer Hegseth is not an employee of the Pentagon.
Hegseth’s brother, Phil, is employed by the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security adviser to Hegseth. However, the rationale for why he or Jennifer Hegseth would require access to information regarding military strikes in Yemen remains unclear.
Pentagon Shake-Up Amidst Scrutiny
The Defense Department has experienced significant personnel changes in the preceding week. Two of Hegseth’s principal advisors, Dan Caldwell and Selnick, were escorted from the Pentagon early last week in connection with an inquiry into alleged leaks of sensitive data.
Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, who announced the investigation into the supposed leak weeks prior, departed from his Pentagon role late last week, according to Politico reports. Additionally, Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense, was also removed from his position late last week.
In a joint social media statement issued on Saturday, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll indicated they were unaware of the reasons for the investigation, stating, “Unnamed Pentagon officials have disparaged our character with baseless attacks as we depart.”
Political Fallout
Democrats promptly responded to Sunday’s news. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted on X that Hegseth “must be terminated.”
“The details continue to emerge,” Schumer stated. “We keep discovering how Pete Hegseth endangered lives. Yet, Trump remains too hesitant to dismiss him.”
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the leading Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, remarked on X: “The latest account regarding Pete Hegseth’s negligence with sensitive information is another concerning illustration of this administration’s consistent pattern of incompetence. He should resign.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a military veteran, labeled Hegseth “a menace to our national security” in a released statement.
“Every day he remains in his position is another day our troops’ lives are put at risk,” she concluded.