Hegseth lashes out at alleged Pentagon leakers he claims want to 'sabotage' Trump's agenda
On Fox News, he vigorously denied sharing classified airstrike details.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday strongly denied that what he shared over a second group chat on the Signal messaging app were classified war plans about imminent U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi militants in Yemen, and blamed former staffers for leaking, accusing them of going to the news media with new information to "sabotage" Trump's agenda.
Hegseth and other administration officials have insisted that the information about those airstrikes that was shared earlier with another Signal group established by national security adviser Mike Waltz was not classified.
On Tuesday, Hegseth continued to make that case as questions have been raised about how he shared similar information with a smaller Signal group that sources told ABC News included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.
"I look at war plans every single day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal unclassified coordination for media coordination other things. That's what I've said from the beginning," Hegseth said in a live interview from the Pentagon on "Fox & Friends."
Sources familiar with the chat had earlier told ABC News that Hegseth had established the Signal group with family and friends during his Senate confirmation process. Hegseth was not asked in the interview why he had shared the information with that group of close personal advisers that included his wife, who is not a U.S. government employee.
U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News that the Information about the strikes in Yemen that Hegseth put in both Signal groups came from Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, who used a secure U.S. government system to convey the information. NBC News was first to report that the airstrike information came from CENTCOM's Gen. Kurilla.
In his interview with Fox News, the defense secretary also criticized former close advisers fired last week as part of what he said was leak investigation that followed news reports about military plans for the Panama Canal, Elon Musk's planned visit to the Pentagon and other developments.
"It led to some unfortunate places, people I have known for quite some time, but it's not my job to protect them," said Hegseth. "It's my job to protect national security the president of the United States and let the investigation go where it is. So, when that evidence is gathered sufficiently, and this has all happened very quickly, it will be handed over to DOJ, and those people will be prosecuted if necessary."
The former staffers include Dan Caldwell, a longtime close adviser to Hegseth, Darin Selnick, who was the Pentagon's deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff for the deputy secretary of defense and on Tuesday Hegseth claimed, without evidence, that they were responsible for news leaks intended to "sabotage" the Trump administration's agenda for the Pentagon.
"Those folks who are leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president's agenda and what we're doing, and that's unfortunate," said Hegseth.
"So, once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker, and so we look for leakers, because we take it very seriously, and we will do the investigation," said Hegseth.
At the same time, Hegseth left open the possibility that the ongoing investigation might exonerate the very people he was accusing.
"If those people are exonerated, fantastic," said Hegseth. "We don't think, based on what we understand, that it's going to be a good day for a number of those individuals because of what was found in the investigation."
On Monday, in a video interview with Tucker Carlson, Caldwell vigorously denied that he had leaked information and said he and the other two officials did not know why they had been fired.
"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," they said in a joint statement on X on April 19.
Also on Monday, Hegseth blamed "anonymous smears" and President Donald Trump dismissed any concerns, said he has "great confidence" in Hegseth..
"Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job," Trump said of Hegseth.
The recent disclosures of the new Signal group and the dismissal of top advisers have raised questions about Hegseth's judgment among a large number of congressional Democrats who have called for Hegseth to step down from his post.
On Monday, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, and a former Air Force general, became the first Republican to suggest that Hegseth should be removed as defense secretary.
"If it's true that he had another chat with his family, about the missions against the Houthis, it's totally unacceptable," he told Politico.
"It looks like there's a meltdown going on," Bacon said. "There's a lot -- a lot -- of smoke coming out of the Pentagon, and I got to believe there's some fire there somewhere."
On Tuesday, Hegseth claimed that critics of his Pentagon agenda have "come after me from day one" but said his focus would remain on carrying out his goals at the Pentagon.
"I'm here because President Trump asked me to bring warfighting back to the Pentagon every single day," said Hegseth.
"That is our focus, and if people don't like it, they can come after me. No worries. I'm standing right here," Hegseth said. "The warfighters are behind us. Our enemies know they're on notice. Our allies know we're behind them, and that in this dangerous world for the American people is what it's all about."
"No, I haven't blinked, and I won't blink because this job is too big and too important for the American people," he said.
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