Pentagon Insiders on Hegseth Leak Hypocrisy: “Full On Shit Show”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared war on whistleblowers inside the Pentagon — at the same time that new reports of his own lax operational security and repeated disclosures of highly classified information to people without security clearances keep emerging.

Current and former Defense Department officials and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee called out Hegseth, in conversations with The Intercept, for hypocrisy and a lack of accountability.

A defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, confirmed recent reporting by The Associated Press that Hegseth had a “dirty” internet connection in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer and bypass the Defense Department’s security protocols.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell issued a non-denial denial to The Intercept, referencing only Hegseth’s Defense Department computer. “The Secretary of Defense’s use of communications systems and channels is classified,” said Parnell. “However, we can confirm that the Secretary has never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer.”

The defense official said that Hegseth used multiple computers and phones even though personal electronic devices are generally banned, due to security vulnerabilities, from use inside the defense secretary’s office.

Another official said that the double standard at the Pentagon, where rank-and-file employees are suspected of leaks without cause while the chief shares classified attack plans with unauthorized civilians, had bred anger and discontent among staff. “I don’t mind telling you this now,” one official said. “I can’t say I really care too much anymore.”

Hegseth used Signal to share details about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a group chat — named “Defense | Team Huddle” — that included more than a dozen personal and professional contacts including his wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer who does not work at the Pentagon. Also in the group were Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who serves as his personal lawyer; both have jobs with the Department of Defense. The Signal group also included many of Hegseth’s then-top aides, including Joe Kasper, his chief of staff; Dan Caldwell; and Darin Selnick.

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The chat reportedly revealed information also disclosed in a separate Signal chat that same day, which mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. Unlike the latter chat, the “Team Huddle” group was created by Hegseth, who shared classified information with people who had no reason to know sensitive attack plans.

“Accountability starts at the top. Secretary Hegseth has refused to take responsibility for his own mishandling of classified information, but has readily punished others for far less,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., an Army veteran and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee told The Intercept. “Hypocrisy and finger-pointing is no way to lead the U.S. military.”

Five current and former defense officials who spoke with The Intercept castigated Hegseth for the unauthorized disclosures. Four also drew specific attention to the defense secretary’s repeated efforts to root out other Pentagon officials who supposedly leak information.

Kasper, Hegseth’s former chief of staff, called out “unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense” and threatened that parties found responsible would be “referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution,” in a March memo.

“This is exactly what Hegseth did multiple times,” said one of the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Kasper also threatened to use polygraph tests as part of the investigation of leaks. Less than a month later, news broke that Kasper was leaving his post, amid in-fighting and recriminations about unauthorized disclosures among Hegseth’s aides.

“Hegseth is even more unfit for the role of SecDef than we anticipated. In just a few weeks he has personally committed serious security breaches, denied this, and then refused accountability, and he has set the Pentagon and by extension the entire DoD into chaos,” said Wes Bryant, who until recently served as the chief of civilian harm assessments and senior analyst and adviser on precision warfare, targeting, and civilian harm mitigation at the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. “It was very clear to me that he would do exactly as he is doing: refusing to hold himself accountable to the very standards, conduct, and regulations that he is charged with holding the force to. But that is the Trump administration and current GOP norm now — they are above the law, and anything goes.”

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Hegseth blamed “disgruntled former employees” for revealing the second Signal chat group. Reports suggest this is a reference to four senior advisers who recently left the Defense Department. Three of them — Colin Carroll, Caldwell, and Selnick — were escorted out of the Pentagon and reportedly accused of leaking information to the press. They put out a joint statement on X questioning “if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with.”

The fourth adviser, former Defense Department spokesperson John Ullyot, resigned earlier this month and then published an opinion piece detailing the depths of dysfunction at the Pentagon, including the peddling of lies by “Hegseth’s team.”

“Defense Department officials working for Hegseth tried to smear the aides anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation ordered earlier this month,” Ullyot wrote. “Yet none of this is true. While the department said that it would conduct polygraph tests as part of the probe, not one of the three has been given a lie detector test. In fact, at least one of them has told former colleagues that investigators advised him he was about to be cleared officially of any wrongdoing.”

A former defense official, who was not authorized to talk to the press by his current employer, referred to the episode as a “full on shit show.”

Hegseth’s recent purge followed the February firings of top military officers, including former Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Charles Q. Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

The Defense Department refused to provide information about the number of “unauthorized disclosures” of national security information since January 20 and how many instances have been referred to law enforcement for “criminal prosecution” as threatened in Kasper’s March memo.

It remains unclear whether Hegseth will be held to account for his actions. Hegseth is currently under investigation for his use of Signal in sharing classified information with Goldberg and others. That inquiry is being conducted by Acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins because President Donald Trump fired Robert Storch from his Senate-confirmed Pentagon inspector general role as part of his firings of 17 inspectors general across the government in January.

Reed, the Rhode Island senator, has called for the inspector general to expand its investigation to include the “Defense | Team Huddle” chat. “He must immediately explain why he reportedly texted classified information that could endanger American servicemembers’ lives on a commercial app that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer,” said Reed.

Hegseth’s personal phone number, which he used for his Signal chats, was recently available on WhatsApp and Facebook as well as Sleeper.com, a fantasy football and sports betting site, where he used the username “PeteHegseth.” Experts say that this puts his Signal account at high risk for targeting by hackers and foreign adversaries.

In response to a specific question by The Intercept about whether Hegseth’s disclosures of national security information have been referred to law enforcement for “criminal prosecution,” a Pentagon spokesperson demurred.  

“We won’t be able to provide anything on this topic at the moment,” the unnamed spokesperson replied by email.

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