Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed military plans about strikes in Yemen with a second Signal group chat — this time including his wife, lawyer and brother, according to multiple reports.
Hegseth shares Houthi attack plans again
Per the New York Times, Hegseth shared essentially the same attack plans that he did in another Signal chat which accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic. That chat is being investigated by the Defense Department’s acting inspector general. This second chat, which reportedly took place on his personal phone, occurred in a group that Hegseth created before he was confirmed as Defense Secretary, according to the NYT. Apparently, he named it “Defense | Team Huddle.”
This second blunder has amplified existing fears over Hegseth’s judgment. In a statement seen by CNN, his former press secretary John Ullyot said: “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president.”
Hegseth’s brother and lawyer both have jobs at the Pentagon, but his wife, a former Fox News producer, does not work for the Defense Department — and has previously drawn criticism for accompanying Hegseth on sensitive visits to foreign leaders. It’s unclear why any of them should know about planned strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
Hegseth’s blunder adds to internal chaos at the Pentagon
This latest blunder follows a tumultuous few days at the Pentagon. Hegseth fired his top adviser, Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense, and deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick last week. They had been placed on leave as part of an internal investigation into “unauthorized disclosures” of national security information at the Defense Department. Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, resigned from his role — though he may yet be reassigned.
Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll released a joint statement on Saturday saying that they’re “incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended.” They denied leaking information.
“Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door. All three of us served our country honorably in uniform — for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it,” they wrote. “At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with.”
