US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has denied new claims suggesting he disclosed information about military actions in Yemen through a Signal chat group that involved his wife, brother, and personal attorney.
Reports indicate that the Pentagon chief shared specifics regarding the strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in this private chat – marking the second occasion he has been accused of transmitting sensitive military data via the commercial messaging app to unauthorized individuals.
The emergence of this second Signal chat raises further concerns regarding Mr. Hegseth’s use of an unclassified messaging platform to relay highly sensitive security information, especially as he faces scrutiny following the dismissal of senior officials from the Pentagon last week resulting from an internal leak investigation.
Nonetheless, Mr. Hegseth has dismissed the allegations, stating: “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”
The White House has also refuted a report claiming that it has started looking for a new Defense Secretary.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that the National Public Radio report regarding the search was false.
“As the President mentioned this morning, he stands firmly behind @SecDef,” she wrote on X.
The New York Times reported that in this second Signal chat, Mr. Hegseth divulged details of the attack that echoed those disclosed last month by The Atlantic magazine, after an embarrassing slip-up where its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly included in a separate chat involving top national security officials during President Donald Trump’s administration.
This revelation provoked significant backlash, forcing the Trump administration into a defensive position over the leak.
A Pentagon inspector general’s investigation into Mr. Hegseth’s usage of Signal is currently underway.
Last month, The Atlantic magazine shared screenshots from a Signal chat.
The second chat comprised approximately a dozen participants and was initiated during Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation process, focusing on administrative matters instead of detailed military strategies.
Among the participants were his wife, Jennifer, a journalist and former Fox News producer, along with his brother Phil and lawyer Tim Parlatore, both of whom hold positions at the Pentagon, as reported by the newspaper citing anonymous sources.
Notably, Mr. Hegseth’s wife has participated in sensitive meetings with foreign military officials, as evidenced by images publicly released by the Pentagon.
During a meeting between Mr. Hegseth and his British counterpart at the Pentagon in March, his wife was observed sitting behind him.
Additionally, Mr. Hegseth’s brother works as a liaison from the Department of Homeland Security to the Pentagon.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the president ‘has confidence’ in Mr. Hegseth.
Mr. Hegseth is encountering increasing criticism, with three former staffers issuing a statement condemning their dismissals, and his former Pentagon press secretary virtually calling for his termination.
In contrast, the White House has shown support for him, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed, “the president absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth.”
“I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands behind him,” she affirmed.
The Trump administration has actively pursued leaks, a campaign that has been strongly supported by Mr. Hegseth at the Pentagon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, without providing evidence, claimed 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 Trump’s agenda. We’ve already accomplished so much for the American warfighter and will never back down,” Mr. Parnell stated on X.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly remarked that “recently fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda.”
Democrats have asserted that Mr. Hegseth ‘must be fired.’
Democratic senators have voiced that Mr. Hegseth can no longer maintain his position.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer commented in a post on X.
The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him.
Pete Hegseth must be fired.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2025
“But Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who incurred significant injuries in combat in 2004, stated that Mr. Hegseth “must resign in disgrace.”
A US official at the Pentagon questioned how Mr. Hegseth could retain his position following the latest revelations.
This latest issue arises days after Dan Caldwell, one of Mr. Hegseth’s key advisors, was removed from the Pentagon after being implicated in a leak investigation.
Although Mr. Caldwell may not be as widely recognized as other senior Pentagon officials, he has played an essential role for Mr. Hegseth and was designated as the Pentagon’s point of contact by the secretary in the initial Signal chat.
“We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended,” Mr. Caldwell posted on X on Saturday.
“Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door,” he added.
Following Mr. Caldwell’s departure, less senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently became Mr. Hegseth’s Deputy Chief of Staff, and Colin Carroll, formerly Chief of Staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were placed on administrative leave and subsequently terminated on Friday.
