Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed details on U.S. strikes on the Yemeni Houthis in a second Signal group chat that included members of his family, according to a report.
A New York Times report on Sunday revealed that the chat, titled “Defense | Team Huddle,” included information on flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis, citing four unnamed people with knowledge of the group chat. His two brothers, both of whom are Pentagon employees, and his wife were part of the group chat, along with about a dozen other people from his personal and professional circle.
The group chat was created by Hegseth in January before his Senate confirmation battle, and he used his personal phone to access it. The information on the upcoming strikes was shared by Hegseth months later, on March 15.
That date was a little over a week before it was revealed that an Atlantic journalist was mistakenly added to a separate encrypted group chat of senior U.S. officials discussing U.S. strikes on the Houthis. National security adviser Mike Waltz later admitted he was at fault for the stunning blunder.
A U.S. official characterized the group chat created by Hegseth as an “informal” one and denied that any classified material was shared.
“The truth is that there is an informal group chat that started before confirmation of his closest advisers,” the official told the New York Times. “Nothing classified was ever discussed on that chat.”
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