Key points
- Hegseth used his personal phone: CNN
- His wife, lawyer and brother were also in the chatting group
- Revelation sparked uproar
ISLAMABAD: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat, this one on his personal phone and including his wife, lawyer and brother, CNN reported on Sunday, quoting three people familiar with the chat.
The chat was set up during Hegseth’s tumultuous confirmation hearing process as a way for his closest allies to strategise, the US broadcaster said.
The US defence chief reportedly continued using the chat, which had more than a dozen people in it, to communicate after he was confirmed, the people said.
Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials including Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed the strikes, which took place on March 15.
Pete Hegseth fended off a reporter’s questions about the previous leaked Signal chat group.
Hegseth was asked during a press gaggle in Hawaii if the information was declassified before he put it in the Signal chat and if he was using the messaging platform to discuss operations as sensitive as the strikes against the Houthis on a government or a personal device, Fox News reported.
“I know exactly what I’m doing, exactly what we’re directing,” Hegseth said.
The revelation sparked an uproar, with US President Donald Trump’s administration facing a scandal over the accidental leak. A Pentagon Inspector-General’s probe into that leak is ongoing, according to AFP.
Hegseth is facing increasing criticism from within his own camp, with three former staffers penning a statement decrying their dismissals and his own former Pentagon spokesman all but calling for him to be fired on Sunday.
Accidental leak
The Times reported that Hegseth had shared information in the second Signal group chat on the same March 15 strikes that were discussed in the accidental leak.
The information shared “included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen,” the newspaper reported.
The outlet said that unlike the accidental leak where journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in the group, this group chat was created by Hegseth. The other chat was initiated by Waltz.
“It included his wife and about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle in January, before his confirmation as defence secretary,” the Times’ reported, citing unnamed sources.
Hegseth’s wife Jennifer is a journalist and former Fox News producer. The group also included his brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, both of whom serve in roles at the Pentagon.
Parlatore also continues to serve as Hegseth’s personal lawyer, the Times reported.
Responding to the report, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell accused the New York Times of being “Trump-hating media.”
“There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story,” he said, without providing further specifics.
The Pentagon did not respond to AFP requests for specific details on what was shared in the defence secretary’s Signal group chat.
“Unconscionable”
Trump largely pinned the blame for the earlier leak on Waltz, but has dismissed calls to fire top officials and insisted instead on what he called the success of the raids on the Yemeni rebels.
This week, three top Pentagon officials were put on leave pending investigations into unspecified leaks in the Defence Department.
Deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, senior advisor Dan Caldwell and Colin Carroll hit back on Sunday, releasing a statement saying Pentagon officials had “slandered our character with baseless attacks.”
“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,” they said in a joint statement posted on social media.
“While this experience has been unconscionable, we remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administration’s mission to make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through strength.”
“Total chaos”
Hours after the latest reported leak, Hegseth’s former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot published a scathing opinion piece describing “a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.”
“President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” wrote Ullyot.
Democrats were quick to pounce on the latest allegations, with Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed calling for the Pentagon Inspector-General to include the latest allegations in its probe.
“If true, this incident is another troubling example of Secretary Hegseth’s reckless disregard for the laws and protocols that every other military servicemember is required to follow,” he said in a statement.
