Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans for a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat, which included his wife, lawyer, and brother, according to three people familiar with the chat who spoke to CNN.
The chat was initially created during Hegseth’s contentious confirmation hearing as a way for his closest allies to strategize, the sources said. However, Hegseth continued to use the chat, which included more than a dozen people, even after his confirmation.
The revelation comes as several of Hegseth’s closest advisers have raised concerns about the secretary’s judgment. Among them are his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three senior officials Hegseth dismissed last week: his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who had 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 has become 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 discuss military plans with Cabinet officials last month. That chat is currently under investigation by the Defense Department’s acting inspector general.
Like the first Signal chat, which was made public by The Atlantic after its editor was mistakenly included by national security adviser Mike Waltz, the military plans Hegseth shared in the second chat also involved strikes against the Houthis, according to the sources.
Hegseth’s brother, Phil, and his lawyer, Tim Parlatore, both hold positions at the Department of Defense. However, his wife, Jennifer, does not have a role at the department, despite Hegseth regularly including her in meetings with foreign leaders during the early part of his tenure. It is unclear whether everyone in the second Signal chat possesses a security clearance.
A Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, stated in a tweet on Sunday night that “there was no classified information in any Signal chat.” The New York Times was the first to report on the second Signal chat.
Ongoing Turmoil at the Pentagon
The news of the second chat comes amid days of turmoil at the Defense Department, following Hegseth’s dismissal of Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll, as well as his reassignment of chief of staff Joe Kasper.
Last week, Pentagon spokespeople explained that the chaos was a result of a leak investigation. However, sources told CNN that the firings are just one indication of the dysfunction that has plagued Hegseth’s office over the past five weeks, which has been marked by ongoing infighting between Kasper, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll.
Kasper resigned from his role last week, though he may still be reassigned within the Pentagon. He did not respond to requests for comment.
By mid-March, a series of leaks concerning military planning for the Panama Canal and the Middle East, the potential consolidation of combatant commands, and a classified China briefing for Elon Musk at the Pentagon had significantly unsettled Hegseth, sources told CNN. In response, he and Kasper launched a leak investigation, which included polygraph tests.
After several press reports — including one in The New York Times questioning the success of a large military campaign against the Houthis — Hegseth became increasingly frustrated and began to suspect that senior military officials, as well as some of his closest advisers, were leaking information to undermine him, the sources added.
At one point, Hegseth even called for an FBI investigation into the leaks, though some of his aides advised against it, sources said. There was already an active inspector general investigation focused on Hegseth, and involving the FBI could potentially invite even more scrutiny, those aides cautioned.
Hegseth has also become increasingly concerned about the inspector general investigation, the sources revealed. Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll are expected to be interviewed as part of that probe, they added.
In a joint statement on Saturday, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll expressed their “incredibly disappointment” over how their service at the Department of Defense ended and denied any involvement in leaking information.
“Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks as we leave,” they wrote. “All three of us served our country honorably in uniform — for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it. As of now, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, whether there’s still an active investigation, or if there was ever a legitimate investigation into ‘leaks’ to begin with.”
Ullyot, who served as Hegseth’s press secretary until earlier this month and resigned from the Defense Department entirely last week, also stated on Sunday that it is “not true” that Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll were fired for leaking sensitive information.
“While the Department said that polygraph tests would be part of the investigation, not one of the three has been given a lie detector test,” Ullyot said. “In fact, at least one of them has told former colleagues that investigators informed him he was about to be officially cleared of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of anonymously spreading easily debunked falsehoods about their colleagues as they leave.”
The turmoil has raised further concerns about Hegseth’s judgment and priorities among both current and former officials. This comes at a time when the Pentagon is carrying out a significant military operation in the Middle East against the Houthis, repositioning assets to the region in anticipation of a broader conflict between Israel and Iran, and ramping up troops and equipment at the southern border.
“Unfortunately, after a disastrous month, the Pentagon’s focus is no longer on warfighting but on endless drama,” Ullyot said.
“Even strong supporters of the secretary like me have to admit: The last month has been a complete meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” he added.
As for Hegseth, he has yet to comment on the firings or the turmoil within his office and has steered clear of situations in the past week where he might have faced the press. Reporters were invited to cover the defense secretary as he welcomed his French counterpart to the Pentagon on Thursday, but Hegseth failed to attend, sending an aide in his place.
