Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth Brought His Wife To Meetings With Foreign Military Officials

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, to two meetings with foreign officials, which involved discussions of sensitive information.

According to The Wall Street Journal, many people who were either present or acquired knowledge of the discussions said that Jennifer attended one meeting with U.K. officials and another with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers.

She was said to have attended a March 6 meeting at the Pentagon with Britain’s Secretary of Defense John Healy and Admiral Tony Radakin, head of the U.K. armed forces.

Hegseth has been in the news recently for several controversial decisions. In March, Hegseth directed U.S. Cyber Command at the Pentagon to temporarily cease offensive digital action against Russia.

Last week, he ordered an end to all U.S. cybersecurity efforts against Russia by his department.

The meeting occurred one day after the U.S. cut off military intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and discussions included the rationale for the choice and future military collaboration.

The defense secretary’s wife also attended a meeting in the middle of February at the headquarters of NATO in Brussels.

The meeting, which was on the sidelines of the NATO defense ministers’ conference, was a gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. This group includes about 50 nations that periodically meet to coordinate the production and delivery of weapons and other support for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.

Officials noted that national representatives “routinely present confidential information, such as donations to Ukraine, that they don’t want to be made public,” the Journal stated.

Some foreign attendees at the two meetings were unaware of who Jennifer was. Others had been surprised by her presence but kept going with no objections. It is unknown if her presence affected what had been discussed at either meeting.

A defense secretary can invite anybody to meetings with foreign counterparts, but those attending these meetings typically have high-level security clearances. The spouses of defense officials also often receive low-level security clearances.

Jennifer, a former producer of Fox & Friends, is not a Defense Department employee.

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Alessio Atria