Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed details on U.S. strikes on the Yemeni Houthis in a second Signal group chat that included members of his family, according to a report.
A New York Times report on Sunday revealed that the chat, titled “Defense | Team Huddle,” included information on flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis, citing four unnamed people with knowledge of the group chat. His brother, who is a Pentagon employee, and his wife were part of the group chat, along with about a dozen other people from his personal and professional circle.
The group chat was created by Hegseth in January before his Senate confirmation battle, and he used his personal phone to access it. The information on the upcoming strikes was shared by Hegseth months later, on March 15.
That date was a little over a week before it was revealed that an Atlantic journalist was mistakenly added to a separate encrypted group chat of senior U.S. officials discussing U.S. strikes on the Houthis. National security adviser Mike Waltz later admitted he was at fault for the stunning blunder.
A U.S. official characterized the group chat created by Hegseth as an “informal” one and denied that any classified material was shared.
“The truth is that there is an informal group chat that started before confirmation of his closest advisers,” the official told the New York Times. “Nothing classified was ever discussed on that chat.”
In a statement late Sunday night responding to the report, the Defense Department dismissed it as “garbage” from the “Trump-hating media” and claimed the New York Times’s sources were merely “disgruntled former employees” who want to “sabotage” Hegseth.
“Another day, another old story — back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage — are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President’s agenda,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Parnell also said no classified information was shared in Hegseth’s Signal group chat.
“There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story. What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in executing President Trump’s agenda,” Parnell added.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said Hegseth had two brothers who worked at the Pentagon. He only has one brother who works there. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
