Hegseth on Signal scandal: Pentagon execs are trying to sabotage what we do
For the first time, Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken out about the scandal surrounding the second Signal chat, where he shared details of the attack on Yemeni Houthis.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to NBC.
The minister noted that he takes the classification of information seriously and spoke about the importance of protecting classified data.
"What was shared through Signal, then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordination on media coordination and other things. That's what I've been saying from the beginning," Hegseth explained.
The Pentagon chief believes that the information about the second chat was leaked to the media by former employees who are "trying to leak information and sabotage the president's program and what we're doing."
"Everything we do here is beyond question. We are for the fighters. We are for the president, and none of this is based on reality," he summarized.
The scandal with US Secretary of Defense Hegseth
The media reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was discussing the details of strikes on the Houthis not only in a chat room that happened to include Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. There was another chat room that included Hagel's wife, brother, and lawyer.
Earlier, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, accidentally joined a closed chat in Signal, where members of the US presidential administration discussed strikes on Yemen.
Trump also said he was "unaware" of the report by The Atlantic journalist, who was accidentally added to a secret Signal chat where members of his administration discussed strikes on Yemen.
Subsequently, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied that US military plans were discussed in the chat room and accused The Atlantic's editor-in-chief of "spreading fake news."
Later, the White House, commenting on the Signal scandal, said that the case was closed and that Trump retained confidence in Volz.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticized the media and whistleblowers after reports that he had used another Signal chat to discuss classified military plans.
Amid the Signal chat scandal, US President Donald Trump said that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth was allegedly being attacked by "disgruntled employees."
