Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared classified details about impending U.S. airstrikes in Yemen with a private Signal group that included his wife, brother and personal attorney, according to sources familiar with the messages.
The messages, sent on March 15, included flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornets tasked with striking Houthi targets, the sources said. The messages were sent the same day Hegseth shared similar operational details in a separate Signal chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, sparking widespread concern over how senior officials handle sensitive military information.
Among the recipients of the private messages was Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer who holds no official role at the Department of Defense. She had previously drawn criticism after the Wall Street Journal reported she joined the defense secretary on official foreign trips and attended high-level meetings with international leaders.
Also included in the chat were Hegseth’s brother, Phil Hegseth, and the defense secretary’s longtime personal attorney Tim Parlatore. While both hold positions at the Pentagon, it was not clear why either would require advance knowledge of classified strike plans in this case.
The second Signal chat was first reported by The New York Times.
Signal is an encrypted service mainly used for text messaging, although it can also be used for voice and video calls. Messages can be set to disappear after a period of time and Signal says it doesn’t collect or store any sensitive information from its users.
While its encryption makes it much harder for a third party to view messages or listen in on calls than a standard text messaging service, it is not fully secure
Pentagon officials have not publicly commented on the matter.
Aimee Picchi contributed to this report.
James LaPorta is a national security coordinating producer in CBS News’ Washington bureau. He is a former U.S. Marine infantryman and veteran of the Afghanistan war.
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