Hegseth shared Yemen war details in second group chat

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a military strike against the Houthi group in Yemen in a second Signal chat, which included his own wife and brother, according to The New York Times.

- PHIL THOMAS RHIAN LUBIN

The paper says details, including flight schedules for the warplanes involved, were shared in the group chat on 15 March.

The claims follow shock revelations last month that the upcoming strike was discussed by senior administration figures, including Mr Hegseth, vice-president JD Vance and national security adviser Mike Waltz on Signal, a commercial messaging up, instead of using the high-security communications systems available to them.

The story came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, had accidentally been added to the chat.

The new reporting claims that Hegseth’s wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, was included on a second Signal group chat about the Yemen attack, along with his brother Phil.

Jennifer Rauchet has accompanied her husband on official trips and Phil Hegseth works for the Department of Defense, but it was not clear why either of them might have been included in the planning for the airstrikes.

The New York Times also reports that Pete Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, was included in the group chat. The paper cites four people with knowledge of the chat for its reporting.