Hegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother

By Natasha Bertrand, Jake Tapper, Haley Thomas and Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat that included his wife, lawyer and brother, three people familiar with the chat told CNN.

The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary John Ullyot and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week — his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.

“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. 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,” Ullyot said in a statement obtained by CNN.

The second Signal chat is in addition to the one Hegseth used to communicate with Cabinet officials last month about military plans, which is now under investigation by the Defense Department’s acting Inspector General. The chat was set up during the confirmation hearing process as a way for Hegseth’s closest allies to strategize, two of the people familiar with the matter said.

But Hegseth continued using the chat, which was on his personal phone, to communicate with them after he was confirmed, the people said. Similar to the first Signal chat, which was revealed publicly by The Atlantic after its editor was mistakenly included by national security adviser Mike Waltz, the military plans Hegseth shared in the second Signal chat were about strike plans against the Houthis, the people said.

Hegseth’s brother Phil, as well as his lawyer Tim Parlatore, both have jobs at the Department of Defense. But his wife, Jennifer, does not, despite Hegseth regularly including her in the beginning of his tenure in meetings with foreign leaders, including British Defense Secretary John Healey. It is not clear whether everyone in the second Signal chat has a security clearance.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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