Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration, has not had an easy time with the media in recent days: last Thursday, the New York Times reported on a meeting at the Pentagon where Elon Musk would have access to plans for a potential war with China, and on Monday the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic recounted how he was mistakenly included in a group chat discussing the attack against the Houthis in Yemen.
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The incredible leak has become a political scandal for the White House.
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According to Jeffrey Goldberg’s account, Pete Hegseth was mistakenly included in a Signal messaging group by Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor, and it was Hegseth who on Saturday, March 15, sent all the details of the attack plan in Yemen two hours before it happened.
What was Hegseth’s angry reaction?
In Hawaii, on his way to a tour of Japan and the Philippines, the Pentagon chief spoke to journalists and the first thing he did was discredit the editor of the prestigious magazine The Atlantic, calling him “deceitful” and “discredited”, for spreading alleged lies (some of which have been confirmed as true) and for “peddles in garbage.”
When asked about the messages regarding the bombing in Yemen, Hegseth stated that “no one was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about it.” With that, he abruptly ended the press briefing.
In any case, the information published by The Atlantic was confirmed by the National Security Council spokesperson, Brian Hughes: “It appears to be an authentic chain of messages, and we are reviewing how a number was added by mistake”.
In an interview with MSNBC, Goldberg criticized the use of a messaging service like Signal for such a sensitive issue as an attack in another country, and the fact that unrelated individuals like the Secretary of the Treasury were in the group. Additionally, he called Hegseth “not serious,” as names of undercover agents were also revealed, details that he did not include in the report.
On CNN, the journalist said that Hegseth’s statement about not disclosing war plans was “a lie”.
Security officials were questioned in the Senate
This Tuesday, the top intelligence officials of the Trump administration appeared before a congressional committee for the annual hearing on global threats, but they were harshly questioned by Democrats due to the leak of a Yemen attack.
“If this information had come to light, American lives could have been lost,” said Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, referring to the leaked Signal messages. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon added: “I believe there should be resignations.” “A disgrace,” commented Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who interrupted CIA director John Ratcliffe while demanding answers.