The head of the Pentagon denies the new accusations and claims that the American press “tries to destroy people”
Pete Hegseth, the head of the Pentagon. Photo: Omar Havana / Ap / Profimedia
The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, rejected the charges on Monday that he distributed information on Yemen's military attacks in a discussion group on the Signal Messessry application, and his wife, and his personal lawyer, reports AFP.
The head of the Pentagon is accused of providing details about the US army's blows in a private discussion group on Signal. It is the second case in which he is accused of sharing sensitive military information with unauthorized persons on commercial messaging applications.
“This is the press. They take anonymous sources from the former unhappy employees and then try to destroy people and ruin their reputation,” Hegseth said on Monday at the White House.
“It will not work with me,” said the official, adding: “Anonymous slander from former unhappy employees based on old news does not matter.”
The White House says Trump still supports Hegseth
Pete Hegseth is experiencing more and more criticisms, but the White House sent a support message to the current head of the Pentagon on Monday.
The press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said that “the president has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I talked to him about this this morning and supports him.”
In March, The Atlantic revealed that the editor-in-chief of the publication was mistakenly included in a Signal group in which Pete Hegseth and other top American officials were discussing American military plans in Yemen.
The disclosure aroused controversy, and the Trump administration was forced to adopt a defensive position due to leakage. Currently, an investigation of an inspector general within the Pentagon on the use of the Signal application is being conducted.
On Sunday, New York Times reported that Hegseth has shared information about the US Army attack on March 15 and in another discussion group on Signal. From this conversation his wife, Jennifer, journalist and former producer Fox News, as well as his brother, Phil, and Lawyer Tim, both of the Pentagon, say the publication sources.
The spokesman of the Pentagon, Sean Parnell, accused The New York Times of being in that part of the press that “hates” Trump.
“There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they tried to write the story,” said Parnell, without providing other details.
