Hegseth leak to wife and brother 'came from CENTCOM general's secure messages'
New information regarding
last month's Signal group chat debacle
involving Secretary of Defense
Pete Hegseth
has emerged, stating that Hegseth reportedly relayed information from Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads
U.S. Central Command
. According to NBC, the material sent by Kurilla allegedly contained details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets.
The information, should it have fallen into the enemy's hands, could have put the fighter and their pilots in considerable danger. Three U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges told the news outlet that Hegseth allegedly used his personal phone to send the information transmitted by Kurilla
to at least two group chats using the Signal app
.
Two sources later revealed that less than 10 minutes had elapsed between the time Hegseth had received the information from Kurilla and when he sent it out to two group chats. According to the sources, one group included other Cabinet-level officials and their designees — and, inadvertently, the editor of The Atlantic magazine while the second
contained Hegseth's wife and brother
.
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NBC previously reported that an aide to the Secretary of Defense allegedly warned him in the days leading up to the strikes to be careful with the information. Since it was reported by The Atlantic, many of Trump's officials have claimed that there was nothing classified about the information sent.
'No classified material was ever shared via Signal,' said the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, who called the allegations 'an attempt to sabotage President Trump and Secretary Hegseth.'
Since the news of the second group chat has been made public, both Hegseth and the White House have been on damage control. During an interview on Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, Hegseth launched a verbal attack on the
alleged "disgruntled" former employees
who, he claims, made up the chat.
"Brian, I want this to be very clear,"
Hegseth said
to Brian Kilmeade. "We take the classification of new information very importantly. It's very important to us that we safeguard it."
"And so when we've had leaks, which we have had.
We did a serious leak investigation
and through that leak investigation, unfortunately, we have found some folks that we believe were not holding to the protocols that we hold dear here at the Defense Department," he added. 'Through that investigation, they have been moved on, and that investigation continues."
Hegseth touted that everything done at the Pentagon is "above board" and that they were trying to safeguard information. "At this point, those folks who had been leaking are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president's agenda."
The news also comes as rumors fly that the
Defense Secretary is on the outs with the White House
. An anonymous U.S. official told NPR that the search started recently. Karoline Leavitt slammed the NPR story reporting that a search for Hegseth's replacement was underway and called it "fake news."
"This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about," Leavitt penned on X early Monday afternoon. "As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef."
President Donald Trump also touted his support for Hegseth. "It's just fake news. They just bring up stories," President
Donald Trump
told reporters on Monday. "I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that's what he's doing. So, you don't always have friends when you do that."
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Times
28-04-2025
- Times
Cardinals to convene for decision on start of conclave
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Times
27-04-2025
- Times
Cardinals will convene to decide when conclave will start
Thousands of mourners queued to visit Pope Francis's tomb on Sunday as attention among cardinals shifted to preparations for the conclave, the secretive process that will choose the new head of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, aged 88, after suffering a stroke and subsequent coma and cardiac arrest, less than a month after his discharge from a 38-day stay in hospital in which he battled double pneumonia. An estimated 250,000 people attended Francis's funeral in St Peter's Square on Saturday, among them a line-up of world leaders including President Trump, President Zelensky and Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister. The coffin was driven through Rome's streets on a converted 'popemobile', flanked by crowds estimated at 150,000, to the Basilica of St
Irish Daily Star
27-04-2025
- Irish Daily Star
Donald Trump and Melania caught with smiles while chatting during Pope Francis' funeral
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