Hegseth Comes Under Fire Amid Reports of Sharing Sensitive Info in Another Signal Group Chat
“Another day, another old story,” said Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement. But while the news he was responding to on Sunday may have sounded familiar, it was in fact new.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Cabinet officials were revealed last month to have discussed U.S. military strikes on Yemen in a Signal chat group that mistakenly included the Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, new reports suggest Hegseth may have shared similar attack details in another chat on the same commercial messaging platform—this time, with a group that reportedly included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
The New York Times first reported on Hegseth’s second sensitive Signal chat, citing four unnamed sources with knowledge of the chat. CNN also reported on it, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the chat, while the Associated Press confirmed the Times’ reporting, citing an anonymous source familiar with the chat’s contents and participants.
Hegseth and the Trump Administration faced heavy criticism about the implications for national security after the initial leak report last month, with some Congress members even calling on the Defense Secretary to step down. The Administration and GOP allies, however, downplayed the controversy, with President Trump himself accusing critics of making “a big deal” out of his Administration’s “only glitch in two months.”
“The details keep coming out,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X after the latest reports. “We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
Parnell, the Pentagon spokesperson who was also reportedly a member of the second chat group, insisted there was “no classified information in any Signal chat” and that the reports are evidence that the “Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda.”
Here’s what to know.
What information was in the second Signal chat?
The Times reported that some of the information in the newly revealed Signal chat group, which was named “Defense | Team Huddle,” included flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornet combat aircraft targeting the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The report described it as “essentially the same attack plans” that Hegseth had shared in the Signal group chat called “Houthi PC small group” that included top national security officials as well as the Atlantic’s Goldberg.
Hegseth reportedly accessed the chat on a private phone distinct from his government-issued device. He created it to discuss “routine administrative or scheduling information,” according to two of the Times’ sources, who noted that the Defense Secretary did not typically use the chat to discuss sensitive military operations.
Who was in the second Signal chat?
Besides Hegseth and Parnell, the “Defense | Team Huddle” chat also reportedly included Hegseth’s younger brother Phil, who works in the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security senior adviser and liaison.
It also reportedly included Tim Parlatore, Hegseth’s personal lawyer, whom Hegseth commissioned last month as a Navy commander in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
It’s unclear what level of security clearance Phil Hegseth or Parlatore may have, given their government roles, but Hegseth’s wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer who was also reportedly a member of the chat, does not have an official government role. The Defense Secretary has been previously scrutinized for including his wife in sensitive meetings with foreign officials.
The chat also reportedly included two former senior advisers to Hegseth: Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick. Caldwell and Selnick, along with former deputy defense secretary chief of staff Colin Carroll, were fired days earlier, ostensibly after an investigation into leaks. The three issued a statement asserting their innocence and claiming they’ve been “slandered” while maintaining that they “remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administration’s mission to make the Pentagon great again.”
The “Defense | Team Huddle” chat also reportedly included Joe Kasper, the Defense Secretary’s chief of staff who reportedly requested the leak investigation and is set to leave his post for a new role at the Pentagon amid the turmoil.
Why is the Trump Administration blaming disgruntled ex-employees?
Parnell, in his statement, criticized the Times “and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage” for “enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article.” The Times as well as CNN and the AP did not name their sources. “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,” Parnell claimed.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly similarly dismissed the reports, saying in a statement to the AP: “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.” Kelly also blamed disgruntled ex-employees, adding: “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.”
Hours after the Times reported on the existence of the second sensitive Signal group chat, John Ullyot, who resigned as acting Defense Department press secretary last week, published a tell-all op-ed for Politico in which he painted a portrait of “total chaos” and “disarray” at the Pentagon under Hegseth.
Ullyot described Hegseth’s recent firing of Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll—“three of his most loyal senior staffers”—as “strange and baffling” and potentially just the beginning of a broader “purge.” He also suggested that the leak allegations against the three officials were unfounded. “Unfortunately, Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door,” Ullyot wrote.
“The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president,” Ullyot asserted, warning that there may yet be “more shoes to drop in short order” and “even bigger bombshell stories coming this week.” Given Trump’s “strong record of holding his top officials to account,” he added, “it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
What are the reactions so far?
The fresh news of Hegseth potentially disclosing sensitive information in another Signal chat has already prompted sharp rebuke from some Democratic lawmakers.
Sen. Jack Reed (D, R.I.), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Hegseth “must immediately explain” and urged the Defense Department’s Inspector General Office to include the latest allegations in its ongoing investigation of Hegseth’s mishandling of classified information. “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,” Reed said.
Sen. Andy Kim. (D., N.J.) posted on X: “I’ll say it again—Hegseth needs to resign. There was more than enough from the last Signal leak to show he is not fit to lead our military.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D, N.Y.) posted on X that Hegseth “recklessly used an unsecured app to discuss war plans with senior officials. Now we know he also shared those sensitive details with his family over Signal, even after being explicitly warned not to. Republicans must join me in calling on him to resign immediately.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D, Ill.) also called on Hegseth to resign, posting on X: “How many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn’t only a f*cking liar, he is a threat to our national security? Every day he stays in his job is another day our troops’ lives are endangered by his singular stupidity.”