Trump’s defence chief Pete Hegseth ‘leaked war plans in second group chat’

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is accused of sharing ‘war plans’ in a second Signal group chat, one that includes in wife Jennifer (Picture: Brian Snyder/Reuters)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is turning Signal leaks into a family affair, according to claims he shared war plans with his wife and brother.

‘Nobody was texting war plans’, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last month after sharing details of a military operation against Houthi rebels before and while it was in progress.

He had used the Signal messaging app to share the time, weapons and target with Donald Trump’s top security officials and – inadvertently – a journalist.

It turns out that wasn’t the only Signal group chat where Hegseth shared details of the upcoming airstrikes in Yemen, the New York Times reported.

Hegseth had another one, which he created, with his wife, Jennifer, his brother Phil, and his personal lawyer Tim Parlatore.

They had been in the ‘Defense | Team Huddle’ chat since January this year, before Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary.

While Signal is end-to-end encrypted, it is still a security weak spot the National Security Agency warned its employees against using in February.

Pete Hegseth’s messages revealing plans to hit the Houthis in a group chat including editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, who revealed the leak (Picture: The Atlantic)

Hegseth is understood to have used his private phone to access this particular group chat and share highly sensitive military information, people familiar with the chat said.

The defense secretary’s brother and lawyer both work at the Pentagon, but not in roles that would necessitate their briefing on the March 15 plans to launch airstrikes on the Houthis.

A Pentagon spokesperson said: ‘There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story.’

Mr Hegseth’s wife Jennifer holds no official role. That hasn’t stopped her from accompanying the defense secretary to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.

The former Fox News producer was present when Hegseth met his British counterpart John Healey and Admiral Tony Radakin, head of the UK Armed Forces, last month.

Jennifer Rauchet’s presence at meetings where sensitive information is discussed has drawn criticism (Picture: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Discussions including sharing military intelligence and aid with Ukraine. This was also a topic for discussion at a meeting of NATO defense ministers the in February, which Jennifer was also at.

It is not clear what security clearance she has, if any.

Former chief Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot, who resigned last week, called for Hegseth to be sacked.

Writing for Politico, he claimed the Department of Defense is ‘in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership’.

‘It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon’, he said.

‘From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership.’

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