A fired-up Pete Hegseth used a softball Fox News interview to threaten ex-aides with prosecution after news of his second Signal chat was leaked to the press.
President Donald Trump’s Pentagon boss is sweating again after The New York Times reported that he had a second group on the encrypted app that he used to share details about strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen—this time with family members and his personal lawyer.
Hegseth turned to his former colleagues at Fox & Friends to try to defend himself, as well as threaten ex-aides with harsh repercussions.
“When evidence is gathered, and this happened quickly, it will be handed over to DOJ and the people will be prosecuted,” he said.
The interview comes after his former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot wrote a blistering op-ed for Politico about the former Fox News anchor’s “chaotic” tenure at the Department of Defense.
In the piece, Ullyot, who survived for all of two months before he was axed, questioned whether Hegseth would be in charge for much longer.
“Anybody that knows John knows why we let him go,” Hegseth said Tuesday morning. “We did a lot of favors for John, he did some good work up front then he was moved along and asked to move along—and now he’s misrepresented a lot in the press.”
He continued: “It’s unfortunate. We did right by him, tried to help, but he’s spinning it otherwise. It’s too bad. That’s politics, I guess.”
Hegseth’s interview with Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday morning came after two of the defense secretary’s senior staffers were fired and another was put on administrative leave for allegedly leaking the bombshell information about both Signal scandals.
“We took it seriously, it led to some unfortunate places… people I have known for quite some time,” he said of an ongoing Pentagon investigation into the leaks.
He was speaking right after Kilmeade name-checked three men in particular whom Hegseth “let go.”
The defense secretary then appeared to threaten the trio with “prosecution” if they are eventually deemed guilty.
“It’s not my job to protect them, I protect national security,” he said, before saying “the people will be prosecuted” after the Department of Justice receives “evidence” from the Pentagon.
“The leakers know who they are and truth will be told and we stand behind that. Leaking is not OK in national security policy.”
Last week, Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth’s top advisers, and Darin Selnick, his deputy chief of staff, were fired. Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, was placed on leave.
Hegseth said that “was a result” of the Pentagon investigation. He said the probe found that the men, or “others near them,” were party to leaking.
“I have a statutory responsibility, if I believe that is the case, to ultimately ensure they no longer have access to that [information],” he said.
“I don’t have time for leakers,” he went on.
Hegseth agreed with Kilmeade’s assertion that the alleged leaks were revenge attacks by the fired staffers.
“When you dismiss people who are leaking classified information, and again—the investigation is ongoing and that will take time and the evidence will go to DOJ—why would it surprise anyone that those very same people keep leaking to the very same reporters?”
“Once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker,” he said.
Hegseth said it is unlikely that these men will be “exonerated” due to the berth of evidence he says has been dredged up.
Fired spokesman Ullyot called Hegseth’s command of the department “dysfunctional,” writing in his op-ed that it is “now a major distraction for the president.”
Hegseth still has the Trump’s support, at least publicly. “Pete’s doing a great job,” he told reporters at an Easter event at the White House on Monday. “Everybody’s happy with him.”
“Are you bringing up Signal again? I thought they gave that up two weeks ago. It’s the same old stuff from the media. Try finding something new,” the president added.
Hegseth’s second Signal chat reportedly included his third wife—who has no official government role—and his brother, who was given a Department of Homeland Security appointment as liaison to the Pentagon.
Last month, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that he had been mistakenly added to another Signal group chat with top Trump administration national security officials, in which they discussed sensitive planning details for the military operation.
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