The White House issued a strong rebuttal following a New York Times report that revealed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had created a second Signal messaging group that included his wife and brother, where he allegedly discussed a U.S. airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. The administration emphasized that no classified details were ever disclosed in the chat.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the claims, saying, “no matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.”
She further stated, “recently fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the president’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
According to the New York Times, the secondary Signal thread—hosted on a publicly available app that is not cleared for sharing sensitive defense content—had 13 members. Among them were Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, a senior adviser and liaison from the Department of Homeland Security. Both individuals have accompanied Secretary Hegseth on official trips and attended top-level briefings.
Sean Parnell, who serves as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, criticized the article in a statement to Newsmax, likening the report’s timing to a media stunt.
“Another day, another old story—back from the dead,” Parnell wrote. “The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda.”
Parnell accused the New York Times and other media outlets of leaning on biased sources to manufacture controversy. “This time, The New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage — are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the secretary and the President’s agenda.”
He made clear that the Signal chat in question never contained sensitive material. “There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story. What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in executing President Trump’s agenda.”
Parnell concluded by emphasizing the administration’s commitment to military readiness and national defense. “We’ve already achieved so much for the American warfighter, and will never back down.”
{Matzav.com}