Duckworth: 'Pete Hegseth is a 'f‑‑‑ing liar'

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) called Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth a “f‑‑‑ing liar” and demanded his resignation, after the top military official repeatedly insisted he did not share classified information and war plans in an unsecured group text message. 

Duckworth, a combat veteran, former Blackhawk helicopter pilot and member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, said Hegseth put the lives of American service members in danger by discussing the timing and sequencing of U.S. attacks targeting the Houthis in Yemen in early March. 

“Pete Hegseth is a f‑‑‑ing liar. This is so clearly classified info he recklessly leaked that could’ve gotten our pilots killed. He needs to resign in disgrace immediately,” Duckworth said in a statement. 

“Hegseth and every other official who was included in this group chat must be subject to an independent investigation. If Republicans won’t join us in holding the Trump Administration accountable, then they are complicit in this dangerous and likely criminal breach of our national security.”

Hegseth has aggressively rejected that he did anything wrong in sharing the information over the commercial messaging app Signal, following the release of those text messages by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the group. 

Trump has so far rejected firing any of the officials involved in the debacle. National security adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for bringing Goldberg into the chat, which also included Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among other top administration national security officials. 

Democrats expressing outrage are being joined by some Republicans breaking with the Trump administration’s line. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said the White House is "in denial" that the information shared was classified or sensitive. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there would be an investigation.