Washington (TDI): US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fought back Monday against another scandal over his reported use of Signal to discuss airstrikes on Yemen, this time with his wife, brother and lawyer.
The Pentagon chief allegedly included details of the attacks in the private chat, the second time he has been accused of sharing sensitive military information on the commercial messaging app with unauthorized people.
“This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled ex-employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth said at the White House, adding: “Not going to work with me.”
Hegseth is facing growing criticism, with three former staffers issuing a statement criticizing their removals and his own ex-Pentagon press secretary all but calling for him to be dismissed.
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Multiple Democratic lawmakers have stated it is time for Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor and army veteran with no previous experience of government, to resign.
“Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now leaked classified military plans twice, this time through an unsecured Signal chat on a personal device to family and friends. He’s a walking national security disaster and needs to quit or be fired,” said Representative Jim McGovern.
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Senators Mark Warner, Elissa Slotkin and Andy Kim all urged Hegseth to resign, with the latter saying: “Our military and our nation deserve serious leaders. If he cared about the institution he’s leading, he should man up, acknowledge he’s a distraction to the military’s mission, and quit.”
But the White House on Monday supported him, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stating that President Donald Trump absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I spoke to him about it this morning, and he supports him.”
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
