INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemens Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that
included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
The revelations of a second Signal
chat raise more questions about Hegseths use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details and come at a
particularly delicate moment for him, with senior officials ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
In
the second chat, Hegseth shared details of the attack similar to those revealed last month by The Atlantic magazine after its
editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in a separate chat on the Signal app by mistake, in an embarrassing incident involving all
of President Donald Trumps most senior national security officials.
The person familiar with the matter, who was speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the second chat included about a dozen people and was created during his confirmation process to discuss administrative
issues rather than detailed military planning.
The chat included details of the schedule of the air strikes, the person said.
Hegseths wife,
Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, according to images the Pentagon
has publicly posted.
During a meeting Hegseth had with his British counterpart at the Pentagon in March, his wife could be seen sitting
behind him.
Hegseths brother is a Department of Homeland Security liaison to the Pentagon.
The Trump administration has aggressively pursued
leaks, an effort that has been enthusiastically embraced by Hegseth at the Pentagon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, without evidence,
said that the media was enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article.
The
Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trumps agenda
… Weve already achieved so much for the American warfighter, and will never back down, Parnell said in a statement on X.
White House
spokesperson Anna Kelly said that recently fired ‘leakers are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and
undermine the Presidents agenda.
Democratic lawmakers said Hegseth could no longer stay in his job.
We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put
lives at risk, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a post to X
But Trump is still too weak to fire him
Pete Hegseth must be fired.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who suffered grave injuries in combat in 2004, said that Hegseth
must resign in disgrace.
A United States official at the Pentagon questioned how Hegseth could keep his job after the latest news.
The
latest revelation comes days after Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseths leading advisers, was escorted from the Pentagon after being identified
during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense.
Although Caldwell is not as well known as other senior Pentagon officials,
he has played a critical role for Hegseth and was named as the Pentagons point person by the Secretary in the first Signal chat.
We are
incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended, Caldwell posted on X on Saturday
Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.
Following Caldwells departure,
less-senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently became Hegseths deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who was chief of staff to Deputy
Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were put on administrative leave and fired on Friday
REUTERS
The post Pentagon chief Hegseth shared sensitive Yemen war plans in second Signal chat, source says first appeared on TINS News.
