Hegseth Shared War Plans with Wife and Brother on Signal
Beyond the first Signal leak, Defense Secretary Hegseth shared classified F/A-18 strike schedules in a second Signal chat that included his wife, his brother, and his personal lawyer. The IG found it matched SECRET/NOFORN documents.
Beyond the already-documented Signal chat leak ("Signalgate"), a second, arguably worse incident was revealed in April 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created a Signal group chat called "Defense | Team Huddle" that included his wife (a former Fox News producer), his brother Phil (hired as a Pentagon adviser), and his personal lawyer.
In this chat, Hegseth shared F/A-18 Hornet flight schedules and strike timing for imminent attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen.
A December 2025 Pentagon Inspector General report found:
- The information Hegseth shared matched a CENTCOM document classified as SECRET/NOFORN
- Hegseth violated military regulations and "risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives"
- Hegseth claimed declassification authority but produced no documentation
- The Pentagon never conducted a routine investigation into whether the leak caused actual damage
The Secretary of Defense sharing classified military strike plans with family members on a consumer messaging app — twice — represented a national security failure of extraordinary proportions.