Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed war plans with his wife, brother and lawyer as U.S. fighter jets were taking off to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen. According to a report from NBC News, Army Gen. Michael Kurilla sent Secretary Hegseth details, including when the jets were expected to hit their targets, on a secure government server. Less than 10 minutes later, Hegseth shared the information in two group chats on the messaging app Signal — one with cabinet officials, the other with family members and aides.
What is Hegseth’s response?
In an interview with “Fox and Friends” on the morning of Tuesday, April 22, Hegseth dismissed the new report, saying he takes classified information very seriously and that it was likely leaked by employees who were recently fired for allegedly leaking.
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“What was shared over Signal, then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations for media coordination and other things,” Hegseth said. “That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.
“In this point, those folks who are leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president’s agenda and what we’re doing. And that’s unfortunate.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said an NPR report stating the White House is looking for Hegseth’s replacement is fake news. President Trump expressed support for Hegseth on Monday and said he is doing a great job.
Hegseth’s past statements
Hegseth was a vocal critic of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified and sensitive material on a private email server. While working for Fox News, he repeatedly said military or government officials who mishandle our nation’s secrets are normally criminally prosecuted.
“The fact that she wouldn’t be held accountable for this I think blows the mind of anyone who’s held our nation’s secrets dear,” Hegseth said on Fox News in November 2016. “Who has had a top-secret clearance like I’ve had and others who know that even one hiccup causes a problem, let alone a standard procedure like this.”
Democrats and one Republican call for him to go
Democrats are renewing their calls for Hegseth to either resign or be fired.
“It’s against the rules in the Department of Defense, which he heads,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said. “And there needs to be an investigation and accountability for this. We can’t have a secretary of defense sharing operational information to people he shouldn’t.”
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired Air Force general, said the newly revealed security lapse is unacceptable, and that he wouldn’t tolerate it if he were in charge. However, he didn’t think it was his place to tell Hegseth to resign.
Hegseth said there is an investigation into former Pentagon officials who are accused of sharing information with the media. He said those investigations could ultimately lead to criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
