{"id":1052561,"date":"2025-04-21T11:39:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1052561"},"modified":"2025-04-21T11:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:39:32","slug":"trumps-unfit-and-unqualified-defense-secretary-must-resign-after-sharing-critical-military-secrets-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-unfit-and-unqualified-defense-secretary-must-resign-after-sharing-critical-military-secrets-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Unfit and Unqualified Defense Secretary Must Resign After Sharing Critical Military Secrets AGAIN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In response to new reporting on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth exposing critical military plans with family members on an insecure device in violation of protocol, <\/em>DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPete Hegseth is a disgrace and completely unfit to lead the Department of Defense. In just a few months on the job, Hegseth has repeatedly put our national security at risk, jeopardized the safety of our men and women in uniform, and demonstrated staggering levels of incompetence. It\u2019s well past time for Hegseth to resign \u2014 or for Donald Trump to fire him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: Trump\u2019s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared critical military operational details AGAIN, putting active duty service members\u2019 lives at risk, threatening America\u2019s national security, and again raising questions about his fitness to lead from those closest to him. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of those people said that the information<\/strong> Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F\/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen<\/strong> \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne person familiar with the chat said Mr. Hegseth\u2019s aides had warned him<\/strong> a day or two before the Yemen strikes not to discuss such sensitive operational details in his Signal group chat<\/strong>, which, while encrypted, is not considered as secure as government channels typically used for discussing highly sensitive war planning and combat operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cHegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]he chat \u2026 had more than a dozen people in it \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe revelation comes as some of Hegseth\u2019s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary\u2019s judgment<\/strong>, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials <\/strong>Hegseth fired last week \u2014 his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018It\u2019s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.<\/strong> From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction<\/strong> for the president \u2014 who deserves better from his senior leadership,\u2019 Ullyot said in a statement obtained by CNN. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe turmoil has raised more concerns about Hegseth\u2019s judgment and priorities<\/strong> among current and former officials, and comes as the Pentagon is executing a major military operation in the Middle East against the Houthis, moving assets to the region in the event of a wider war between Israel and Iran, and surging troops and equipment to the southern border.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the second time Hegseth has exposed critical military operational details and risked active duty service members\u2019 lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlantic<\/a>: \u201cThe Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 11:44 a.m., the account labeled \u2018Pete Hegseth\u2019 posted in Signal<\/strong> a \u2018TEAM UPDATE.\u2019 I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel<\/strong>, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command\u2019s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen<\/strong>, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council<\/strong>, responded two hours later, confirming the veracity of the Signal group<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

REMINDER: Hegseth is the <\/strong>\u201cleast experienced defense secretary\u201d<\/strong><\/a> in U.S. history and already faced major concerns about his fitness to lead before his confirmation. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NPR<\/a>: \u201cIf confirmed, he would be the least experienced defense secretary in the history of the republic, <\/strong>going back to Henry Knox, the first secretary of war who was a key officer in Washington\u2019s army. Those who rise to that post often come from Capitol Hill, industry or the highest ranks of the officer corps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cHegseth, if confirmed by the Senate, would lead 1.3 million active-duty troops in uniform and more than 750,000 civilians, hold contentious meetings with U.S. allies and develop strike options against the Islamic State and Iranian proxies. And while Hegseth has military experience, he has never run an organization larger than a small nonprofit. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Folks are shocked,\u2019 said a current DOD official. \u2018He\u2019s just a Fox News personality that\u2019s never worked in the government.\u2019 \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018It is a massive bureaucracy, you have to understand how that works to support national security around the globe,\u2019 [another] official added. \u2018It is tedious and challenging and it is not at all related to getting on Fox News and pontificating.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street Journal<\/a>: \u201cRepublican senators said that they want closer scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for defense secretary. … The former Fox News host was an unconventional choice for the top Pentagon job, as he has never led a large government agency<\/strong>, but the debate about his qualifications has been overshadowed by allegations related to his personal life.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth also has a history of inappropriate and abusive behavior \u2014 including reports of sexual assault and domestic violence \u2014 raising serious questions about his fitness to manage the Department of Defense.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete Hegseth<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cA California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she \u2018remembered saying \u201cno\u201d a lot,\u2019<\/strong> a police report obtained by CNN shows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Yorker<\/a>: \u201cA trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran\u2014Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America\u2014in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penelope Hegseth<\/a>: \u201cYou are an abuser of women <\/strong>\u2014 that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. <\/strong>You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cAn ex-sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth\u2019s submitted a sworn statement to senators on Tuesday that accused Mr. Hegseth, President Trump\u2019s nominee for secretary of defense, of being so \u2018abusive\u2019 toward his second wife that she once hid in a closet from him and had a safe word to call for help if she needed to get away from him. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the affidavit, which was sent on Tuesday to the Armed Services panel, Danielle Hegseth wrote that Mr. Hegseth\u2019s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, \u2018once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to new reporting on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth exposing critical military plans with family members on an insecure device in violation of protocol, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: \u201cPete Hegseth is a disgrace and completely unfit to lead the Department of Defense. In just a few months on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Unfit and Unqualified Defense Secretary Must Resign After Sharing Critical Military Secrets AGAIN - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-unfit-and-unqualified-defense-secretary-must-resign-after-sharing-critical-military-secrets-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-21T15:39:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-21T15:39:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-unfit-and-unqualified-defense-secretary-must-resign-after-sharing-critical-military-secrets-again\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-unfit-and-unqualified-defense-secretary-must-resign-after-sharing-critical-military-secrets-again\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Unfit and Unqualified Defense Secretary Must Resign After Sharing Critical Military Secrets AGAIN - 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