Pete Hegseth hits back at 'disgruntled employees' as reports emerge of second Signal group chat
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has hit back at 'disgruntled' employees amid reports alleging he shared top-secret military details in a second Signal chat.
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Hegseth lashed out in front of reporters on Monday who questioned him over the allegations, which suggest he created a second chat on the unauthorised app that included his wife and brother.
The reports suggest he shared similar details about the attack on the Houthi militants seen in the first signal chat, which came to light after The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief was accidentally added to the group
Hegseth claims the new allegations, published by the New York Times, come from “disgruntled former employees”.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth told reporters outside the White House on Monday.
“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,” he continued.
“Not going to work with me because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.”
It follows the firing of several of Hegseth's top advisors at The Pentagon last week, with names including Dan Caldwell, his top adviser, Darin Selnick, his deputy Chief of Staff, and Colin Carroll, the Chief of Staff to the deputy Defense Secretary, all removed from office.
Hegseth, alongside a host of other top White House officials, were left scrambling in March after it came to light a journalist had been added to a group chat on the commercially available app Signal.
There, in a group chat, he published sensitive details of a military airstrike against Yemen's Houthi militants were sent.
A person familiar with the contents and those who received the messages, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed the second chat to The Associated Press.
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According to the source, this second chat contained detailed sensitive or classified defence information and included 13 people.
The New York Times reported the group included Hegseth's wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Both have travelled with the defence secretary and attended high-level meetings.
Speaking late on Sunday, the White House branded this latest alleged security breach a “non-story.”
"No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can't change the fact that no classified information was shared,” said White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly.
"Recently-fired 'leakers' are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the president's agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable."
Senior Democrats took to social media following the report, calling for Hegseth to lose his job and accusing him of “putting lives at risk.”
"The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X.
"Pete Hegseth must be fired."