Hegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat, this one on his personal phone and including his wife, lawyer and brother, three people familiar with the chat told CNN.

The chat was set up during Hegseth’s tumultuous confirmation hearing process as a way for his closest allies to strategize, two of the people familiar with the matter said. But Hegseth continued using the chat, which had more than a dozen people in it, to communicate after he was confirmed, the people said.

The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week — his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who 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 is now 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 communicate with Cabinet officials last month about military plans. That chat is under investigation by the Defense Department’s acting inspector general.

Similar to the first Signal chat, which was revealed publicly by The Atlantic after its editor was mistakenly included by national security adviser Mike Waltz, the military plans Hegseth shared in the second chat were about strikes against the Houthis, the people said.

Hegseth’s brother Phil, as well as his lawyer Tim Parlatore, both have jobs at the Department of Defense. But his wife, Jennifer, does not, despite Hegseth regularly including her during the beginning of his tenure in meetings with foreign leaders. It is not clear whether everyone in the second Signal chat has a security clearance.

CNN has reached out to Hegseth’s spokesperson for comment. The New York Times was first to report on the second Signal chat.

News of the second chat follows days of turmoil at the Defense Department, after Hegseth fired Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll and reassigned his chief of staff, Joe Kasper.

Last week, Pentagon spokespeople said the chaos had resulted from a leak investigation. But sources told CNN the firings are just one symptom of the dysfunction that has enveloped Hegseth’s office over the last five weeks, which included sustained infighting between Kasper, Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll.

Kasper resigned from his role last week, though he may still be reassigned elsewhere in the Pentagon. He did not respond to requests for comment.

A series of leaks about military planning for the Panama Canal and the Middle East, about a possible consolidation of the combatant commands, and about a classified China briefing for Elon Musk at the Pentagon had deeply rattled Hegseth by mid-March, sources told CNN. So he and Kasper launched a leak probe, complete with polygraph tests.

Following the press reports — including one in The New York Times about the questionable success of a massive military campaign against the Houthis — Hegseth began to lash out and grew suspicious that senior military officials, as well as some of his closest advisers, were leaking to undermine him, the sources added.

At one point, Hegseth even demanded an FBI probe into the leaks — which some of his aides advised against, sources said. There was already an active inspector general investigation focusing on Hegseth, and bringing in the FBI might only invite more scrutiny, those aides advised.

Hegseth has also grown increasingly concerned about the inspector general investigation, the sources said. Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll expect to be interviewed as part of that probe, the sources added.

Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll wrote Saturday in a joint statement that they are “incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended” and denied leaking information.

“Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door. All three of us served our country honorably in uniform — for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it,” they wrote. “At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘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 said Sunday it is “not true” that Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll were fired for leaking sensitive information.

“While the Department said that it would conduct polygraph tests as part of the probe, not one of three has been given a lie detector test,” Ullyot said. “In fact, at least one of the three has told former colleagues straight out that investigators advised him he was about to be cleared officially of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door.”

The turmoil has raised more concerns about Hegseth’s judgment and priorities among current and former officials, and comes as the Pentagon is executing a major military operation in the Middle East against the Houthis, moving assets to the region in the event of a wider war between Israel and Iran, and surging troops and equipment to the southern border.

“Unfortunately, after a terrible month, the Pentagon focus is no longer on warfighting, but on endless drama,” Ullyot said.

“Even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” he said.

Hegseth, for his part, has still not weighed in on the firings or turmoil inside his office and has avoided situations over the last week in which he may have encountered the press. Reporters were invited to cover the defense secretary welcoming his French counterpart to the Pentagon on Thursday, but Hegseth failed to show up, sending an aide instead. — CNN