Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in hot water once again after details emerged on Sunday about a purported second unsecured Signal chat in which attack plans were shared.
Hegseth over the weekend got wrapped up in another scandal involving a second, previously unreported, Signal chat in which sensitive attack plans were shared, this time with his wife and his brother, according to a news report.
Experts and political onlookers reacted quickly on Sunday.
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Retired General Barry McCaffrey called it a "stunning security failure by Sec Def."
He further said Hegseth's "personal phone assuredly targeted by foreign adversaries," and "his wife not cleared for classified info."
Olivier Knox, a senior national political correspondent, said, "New York Times reporting that Hegseth shared operational details of March 15 strikes in Yemen in a SECOND chat on the encrypted but unclassified app Signal. His wife, brother, and personal lawyer were in that one."
Noted political scientist Norman Ornstein responded to Knox on X, declaring, "What a disaster!"
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, said, "Hegseth should just tell us how many chat rooms he was leaking confidential information to. Let’s just get to the bottom of this now instead of it leaking out over the next few months."
Conservative Charlie Sykes refrained from using an expletive, instead writing only, "FFS."
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis said, "Trump needs to fire Pete Hegseth. He’s a complete trainwreck."
"His office is a damn mess, and he can’t stop leaking national security secrets. What the hell are you thinking, putting your wife and brother on a text chain with war plans?" Nellis then asked.