The defense secretary shared sensitive information about planned military strikes in Yemen through an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, according to people familiar with the matter.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly shared detailed plans for upcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat. The chat included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, according to four individuals who knew about the messages.
Some of those individuals said Hegseth’s messages included flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen. These were similar to the details he accidentally sent in a separate Signal chat that included the editor of The Atlantic.
Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, does not work for the Defense Department. However, she has traveled with him on official trips and was criticized for attending high-level meetings with foreign officials.
His brother Phil and attorney Tim Parlatore both work in the Pentagon, but it is unclear why they would need information about upcoming military operations targeting the Houthis. This newly revealed Signal chat is the second one where Hegseth reportedly shared highly sensitive military details, further raising concerns about his leadership and decision-making.
Unlike the chat that accidentally included a journalist, this one was set up by Hegseth himself. He created it in January, before he was confirmed as defense secretary, and named it “Defense | Team Huddle.” It included his wife and about a dozen close associates, and he used his personal phone to access it.
The continued participation of Hegseth’s wife, brother, and lawyer in the chat, even after his confirmation, is likely to raise more concerns about whether he followed proper security protocols.
The original Signal chat, which became public in March, was created by Mike Waltz, President Trump’s national security adviser. It was intended for top officials, including the vice president and director of national intelligence, to coordinate during the U.S. strikes.
Waltz admitted to mistakenly adding The Atlantic's editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group. He called the group “Houthi PC small group” to reflect the presence of senior administration officials.
Hegseth started his separate chat for administrative and scheduling discussions, according to two sources familiar with the group. They said it wasn’t usually used for sensitive military matters and didn’t include other cabinet-level officials.
Hegseth reportedly posted information about the Yemen strikes in this “Defense | Team Huddle” chat at the same time he was sharing similar details in the official chat that included top U.S. officials and The Atlantic.
These strikes were one of the first major military actions during Hegseth’s time as defense secretary and were meant to retaliate against Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. After The Atlantic reported on the first Signal chat, the Trump administration insisted Hegseth hadn’t shared “war plans” or classified material — a claim met with skepticism by national security experts.
When asked about the second chat, a U.S. official didn’t confirm whether Hegseth shared targeting details but said there was no breach of national security.
“There’s an informal chat group that started before his confirmation, made up of his closest advisers,” the official said. “No classified content was ever discussed in that chat.” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did not respond to questions before the article was published.
Afterward, Parnell posted on social media: “Another day, another old story — back from the dead. No classified info in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to spin it.”
The “Defense | Team Huddle” Signal chat included about a dozen of Hegseth’s senior aides, such as his chief of staff Joe Kasper and spokesman Sean Parnell.
The chat also included senior advisers Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, who were recently fired for allegedly leaking unauthorized information. Caldwell and Selnick, along with another former Pentagon official, issued a statement on Saturday denying the leak allegations.
On Sunday, former Defense Department official John Ullyot published an opinion piece in Politico, stating the Pentagon was in disarray under Hegseth and urging Trump to remove him. After The Atlantic disclosed the first chat, Trump defended Hegseth, saying he did nothing wrong.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly backed Hegseth again after the second chat was revealed, saying the media was trying to revive an old, irrelevant story and emphasizing that no classified material was shared.
Some Democrats in Congress saw the new revelations as more proof that Hegseth should be removed.
“Every day he stays in his job is another day our troops’ lives are endangered by his singular stupidity,” said Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and combat veteran.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, added: “If true, this is another troubling sign of Secretary Hegseth’s reckless disregard for the rules all service members are expected to follow.”
Although the original Signal chat created by Waltz was criticized, its participants were senior officials who had a reason to monitor the strikes — aside from the journalist who was added by mistake. However, some of the people in Hegseth’s private Signal group had no clear need to see real-time information about the strikes.
Jennifer Hegseth has drawn attention for her involvement. She joined two foreign military meetings in February and March where sensitive topics were discussed, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tim Parlatore, Hegseth’s long-time personal lawyer, was commissioned as a Navy commander shortly before the Yemen strikes began.
In an earlier interview, Parlatore said he would help improve legal training for military lawyers while working with Hegseth’s office. Hegseth’s brother Phil works in the Pentagon as a liaison to Homeland Security and a senior adviser to the secretary.
One source said some aides warned Hegseth shortly before the strikes not to discuss operational details on the Signal app, which, although encrypted, isn’t as secure as official government communication channels.
It’s unclear how Hegseth responded to the warning. Before becoming defense secretary in January, he was a veteran and Fox News host with no prior experience in top government roles.
Many of Hegseth’s early Pentagon staff were combat veterans familiar with military life, but unfamiliar with high-level government procedures. Some staff urged Hegseth to move work-related messages to his official government phone. But he never did, according to people close to the chat who spoke anonymously.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general began reviewing whether Hegseth followed the rules when using Signal to discuss the Yemen strikes with top Trump aides.
“The goal is to determine if the secretary and other officials followed proper procedures when using a commercial messaging app,” said acting IG Steven Stebbins in a letter to Hegseth.
It’s unknown if Stebbins’ investigation has uncovered the second Signal chat that included Hegseth’s wife and other personal advisers. Stebbins launched the review after a bipartisan request from Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Senator Reed.
Beyond the Signal chat issue, Hegseth’s office has faced turmoil, with three top advisers — Caldwell, Selnick, and Colin Carroll — being fired for allegedly leaking sensitive information. These dismissals and the inspector general’s review have created tension inside the Pentagon, and some officials are considering resigning, sources said.
One of them is Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff. Although he led the internal leak investigation, senior officials say he is not accused of any wrongdoing. Following the Atlantic report, Hegseth and others denied that any classified information had been shared in the Signal chat.
“Nobody was texting war plans. That’s all I’ll say,” Hegseth told reporters. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard echoed the statement during a Senate hearing. But some former defense officials argue that messages about aircraft and launch times would be classified and could put lives at risk if intercepted.
