Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat

According to four individuals familiar with the matter, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared specific details regarding imminent military strikes in Yemen within a private Signal messaging group on March 15. The group included his wife, his brother, and his personal attorney—raising new concerns about the handling of classified information within the highest levels of government.

Sources revealed that among the details shared were flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornet jets involved in the mission to strike Houthi targets in Yemen. These were reportedly the same operational details Hegseth had shared earlier that day in a separate Signal chat which, by mistake, included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic.

While his wife Jennifer Hegseth, a former Fox News producer, holds no official role in the Department of Defense, she has frequently accompanied her husband during international trips and to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders—a pattern that has sparked criticism. Hegseth’s brother, Phil, and his personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, are both employed by the Pentagon, but it’s unclear why they were granted access to sensitive military planning information unrelated to their professional responsibilities.

This previously unreported Signal chat marks another instance in which Hegseth’s judgment is being questioned, especially concerning national security procedures. Unlike the chat group in which The Atlantic editor was mistakenly added—set up by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to coordinate between high-level administration officials—this second chat group was personally created by Hegseth in January before his confirmation as Secretary of Defense.

Titled “Defense | Team Huddle,” the group reportedly included roughly a dozen individuals from Hegseth’s inner circle. It was accessed through his private phone rather than his official government-issued device. Despite being encrypted, the Signal app is not approved for transmitting highly sensitive or classified defense information.

After assuming office, Hegseth did not remove his wife, brother, or attorney from the chat, even as discussions turned toward operational military matters. The continued presence of individuals with no official need-to-know only intensified concerns about his adherence to national security protocol.

The Signal chat exposed in The Atlantic had been created specifically for senior administration officials—including Vice President Mike Pence and the Director of National Intelligence—to coordinate ahead of U.S. airstrikes. Waltz later accepted responsibility for mistakenly adding Jeffrey Goldberg to that group, which was named “Houthi PC small group” to denote its purpose as a forum for principal-level discussions on serious national security matters.

By contrast, Hegseth’s “Defense | Team Huddle” chat, according to sources familiar with it, was initially set up for administrative purposes such as scheduling. Two individuals said the group had not previously been used to share classified or operational information. However, on the day of the Yemen airstrikes, Hegseth allegedly posted sensitive information in both Signal groups nearly simultaneously.

These strikes marked one of the first major military actions under Hegseth’s leadership and were intended as a response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea. After it was revealed that operational details were shared in the Waltz-created Signal chat, the Trump administration insisted no classified material had been disclosed—an explanation met with skepticism by several national security professionals.

When asked whether Hegseth’s private group contained sensitive targeting information, a U.S. official declined to provide a direct answer, instead stating that the group was informal and that “nothing classified was ever discussed.” Despite multiple requests, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell declined to comment prior to publication. After the story went public, he responded on social media, dismissing the report as “another day, another old story—back from the dead.”

The “Defense | Team Huddle” chat included several of Hegseth’s senior aides, such as his chief of staff Joe Kasper and spokesperson Sean Parnell. Also part of the group were senior advisers Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, who were fired last week amid accusations of leaking information without authorization.

Both men denied any wrongdoing in a public statement issued shortly after their dismissal. On Sunday, former Defense Department official John Ullyot, who also left recently, wrote in an opinion piece for Politico that the Pentagon was “in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” and suggested that former President Trump should consider replacing him.

When The Atlantic first revealed Hegseth’s Signal messages concerning the Yemen operation, Trump came to his defense, stating that no breach of protocol had occurred. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly echoed those sentiments, asserting that the media’s repeated focus on the issue was baseless, and insisting again that no classified data had been transmitted.

Yet, some Democratic lawmakers weren’t convinced. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a decorated combat veteran, said, “Every day he remains in his position puts our service members at greater risk due to his reckless incompetence.” Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, added that if the reports were accurate, they served as yet another example of Hegseth’s “dangerous disregard for rules governing military conduct.”

While some defended the Signal group formed by Waltz as a necessary coordination channel among senior officials during a high-stakes operation, many questioned Hegseth’s decision to include individuals like his wife and lawyer in his personal group chat. These participants had no clear reason to receive timely updates on sensitive military strikes.

Jennifer Hegseth’s access to confidential information has already raised alarms. She was present during at least two meetings with foreign military leaders in February and early March—meetings where sensitive content was discussed, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, Parlatore, who has served as Hegseth’s personal lawyer for nearly a decade, rejoined the military around the time of the Yemen strikes, receiving a commission as a Navy commander in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Prior to rejoining, Parlatore had spoken to The New York Times about plans to help improve training for military legal personnel.

Phil Hegseth, the secretary’s brother, currently works in the Pentagon as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and as a senior adviser to the defense secretary. It is still unclear why he would be briefed on operational military matters involving active combat missions.

According to one source close to the situation, some of Hegseth’s aides cautioned him in the days leading up to the Yemen operation not to share operational details over Signal, even though the app is encrypted. These aides emphasized that such discussions should be conducted through secure government channels. However, it remains uncertain how Hegseth responded to those concerns.

While many of Hegseth’s early appointees in the Pentagon were seasoned military veterans, few had significant experience navigating high-level government operations. Several staff members encouraged Hegseth to conduct official discussions on his government-issued phone rather than his personal device. Despite these suggestions, he continued to use his private phone, the sources said.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, launched an inquiry into whether Hegseth and other defense personnel followed official protocols when using a commercial app for official business. In a formal letter, Stebbins outlined the scope of the review, which was prompted by a bipartisan request from Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, and Senator Jack Reed.

It remains unclear whether this new revelation about the personal chat group, which included non-government individuals, has been factored into the inspector general’s ongoing investigation.

The situation in Hegseth’s office has continued to deteriorate, following the recent firings of Caldwell, Selnick, and Colin Carroll—three top aides accused of leaking classified material. Their abrupt removal has led to increased tension and speculation about further departures.

Among those reportedly considering stepping down is Joe Kasper, the chief of staff who helped lead the leak investigation. Though he has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, the atmosphere within the Pentagon leadership appears increasingly unstable.

In response to mounting criticism, Hegseth has firmly denied any mishandling of sensitive material. “Nobody was texting war plans,” he told reporters. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard backed his claims during a Senate hearing, asserting that no classified data was exchanged.

Still, several former senior officials from the defense community have pointed out that revealing launch times and aircraft involved in a strike would typically be considered classified information. Such disclosures, they argue, could place U.S. service members at serious risk if intercepted by adversaries.