Hegseth Got Yemen Airstrike Details from Secure Military Channel for Signal Chats

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under mounting scrutiny after reports revealed he pulled highly sensitive information about U.S. airstrikes in Yemen from a secure military communications channel and shared it via Signal, an unsecured messaging app, with his wife, brother, lawyer, and others.

NBC News first reported that the data—including launch and bomb drop times for U.S. warplanes targeting Houthi positions—originated from U.S. Central Command’s classified communications. A source familiar with a second Signal chat confirmed to the Associated Press that the same sensitive operational details were shared again, this time with an even wider circle, raising concerns over a potential security breach.

This second chat group follows an earlier controversy in which Hegseth accidentally shared similar information in a Signal group that included a journalist from The Atlantic. That incident triggered an inspector general investigation at the Defense Department. Hegseth has denied leaking classified information, claiming the messages were “informal, unclassified coordinations” related to media planning.

“I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,” he told Fox News on Tuesday. Still, Signal is not an approved platform for classified communications, regardless of encryption.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called the situation “serious,” noting that the level of specificity in the airstrike details would unquestionably make the information classified.

“It is unheard of to have a Secretary of Defense committing these kinds of serious security breaches,” Panetta told the AP, stressing that attack plans are among the most sensitive intelligence.

The revelations come amid internal turmoil at the Pentagon. Hegseth has recently dismissed or reassigned six close aides, including longtime allies, in an apparent effort to crack down on leaks. Among those removed were aide Dan Caldwell, Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg’s chief of staff Colin Carroll, and Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick—each escorted out of the building. In his Fox & Friends interview, Hegseth accused them of “attempting to leak and sabotage” the administration.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Joe Kasper is transitioning to a new role, and former Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell is temporarily returning to a more direct advisory role. Another former spokesman, John Ullyot, resigned last week, although Pentagon officials later said he was asked to step down. The fallout has deepened concerns about instability within the Defense Department’s leadership ranks.

This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is available.

Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this story.