CNN panelists openly laughed in Scott Jennings’ face on Wednesday as the network’s token MAGA pundit scrambled to make excuses for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signalgate disaster.
The group was discussing a report that the Pentagon’s inspector general had obtained evidence that military plans shared from Hegseth’s Signal account in a group chat—which accidentally included a journalist—came from a document that was classified at the time. A Defense Department spokesperson nevertheless reiterated the administration’s line that “no classified information was shared via Signal” in a statement to the Washington Post, which first reported the news.
On CNN’s Newsnight, Jennings suggested Hegseth could offer another defense—by arguing he has the power to declassify the messages in real time.
“This is just speculation based on what the scuttlebutt is, but there is a viewpoint that the secretary of defense, because he has declassification authorization, when he puts information into a whatever, he can declassify it at that moment,” Jennings said. “We’ll see if that argument becomes valid.”
The incredulity of his response momentarily shocked the panel into silence, with host Abby Phillip responding: “Wow, that is an absolutely wild argument to make about an ongoing… he will not be making that argument about an ongoing military operation.”
Fellow panelist and former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake also dismissed the claims with a curt: “That’s ridiculous.”
“Why?” Jennings responded, causing Phillip and Flake to crack up.
He continued: “If [Hegseth] removed key details and he believes he has the authority to declassify information… I mean, they might not, I don‘t know what they‘re going to do. I‘m just saying they might make that argument.”
An independent watchdog told the Post that messages shared on Signal with Atlantic editor Jeffery Goldberg about a bombing campaign in Yemen originated from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” apparently contradicting claims made by Donald Trump at the time that none of the material was classified.
“This Signal narrative is so old and worn out, it’s starting to resemble Joe Biden’s mental state,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to the Daily Beast about the leak.
“The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal. As we’ve said repeatedly, nobody was texting war plans and the success of the Department’s recent operations—from Operation Rough Rider to Operation Midnight Hammer—are proof that our operational security and discipline are top notch.”
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