Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth Shared Sensitive Military Plans With His Wife, Brother & Personal Lawyer Over Signal App

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is under fire again after reports revealed he shared sensitive military information about U.S. airstrikes in Yemen using Signal, an encrypted messaging app.

The messages, sent on March 15 to a private group chat titled “Defense | Team Huddle,” included specific flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornet combat aircraft targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. The group included Hegseth’s wife, his brother and his personal lawyer, all individuals without clear national security roles.

Hegseth recently brought his wife to top-secret meetings with allies, raising alarms in the Pentagon.

The “Team Huddle” chat, created by Hegseth before his confirmation as defense secretary, was originally intended to coordinate administrative matters. However, including operational military details has raised alarms about a breach of protocol and misuse of communications channels.

This marks the second time Hegseth has been scrutinized for leaking military information via Signal. In a previous incident, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat created by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

The chat, named “Houthi PC small group,” was meant to coordinate a high-level military response to Houthi attacks in the Middle East. Goldberg received real-time messages from top national security officials, including Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The messages included discussions about strike timing, weapon packages and even political concerns about public messaging, leading Goldberg to realize he had been inadvertently granted access to imminent U.S. war plans.

Further fueling concerns about leadership within the Pentagon, two of Hegseth’s senior advisors, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, were recently fired for allegedly leaking sensitive information. The Pentagon’s acting inspector general has launched an investigation into the use of commercial messaging platforms for official business.

Lawmakers from both parties are now calling for broader oversight of communication protocols to ensure that carelessness does not compromise national security.

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Article by Evelyn Qiu