Hegseth once again under attack in renewed effort to force ouster of Pentagon chief

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is once again under attack as a renewed effort to force the Pentagon chief out is underway, with the media doing its part to revive the Signalgate scandal that was initially deployed earlier this year but failed to catch fire.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the information that Hegseth sent in a March group conversation on the Signal encrypted messaging platform, in which plans to bomb terrorist Houthis in Yemen were discussed, came from an email labeled as “SECRET/NOFORN,” according to the Pentagon’s inspector general.

The paper’s reporting once again cites the usual anonymous sources in “people familiar with the matter” to portray Hegseth as a reckless security risk for allegedly sharing the “SECRET/NOFORN” information, a designation that indicates highly sensitive material meant only for U.S. individuals and agencies and not foreigners.

Exclusive: The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen derived from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN.” https://t.co/qykSiXYQIi

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 23, 2025

It would also seem to conflict with the Trump administration’s insistence that no classified information was shared by Hegseth in the Signal group chats.

“The revelation appears to contradict longstanding claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach,” the Post stated.

“The strike plans had been shared in a classified email with more than a dozen defense officials by Gen. Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, the top commander overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East, and then were posted in the unclassified group chats,” according to WaPo reporter Dan Lamothe, who wrote the piece along with John Hudson.

The Pentagon’s independent watchdog undertook a review of Hegseth’s use of the app in April after lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee asked it to do so. Democrats have been demanding that the Defense Secretary either resign or be fired since the Signalgate story was initially broken by serial fabulist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic after he was inexplicably included on one of the chats by top administration officials over the Yemen strike.

The report was dismissed by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

“This Signal narrative is so old and worn out, it’s starting to resemble Joe Biden’s mental state. The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal,” he said in a statement that was reported by multiple media outlets.

“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,” Parnell added.

Democrats pounced on the WaPo report to renew their calls for Hegseth’s ouster.

Of course it did. Anyone who has flown combat missions knows that these are some of the most closely held secrets we have because their exposure can put pilots at risk.

Hegseth hasn’t been honest with the American people and he needs to resign or the president needs to fire… https://t.co/dLrHJitLrI

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) July 23, 2025

Release the Epstein Files. That story is not going away.

You know what other story is not going away? The fact that Pete Hegseth is totally unqualified and lies. We now have confirmation the secret war plans he released to a reporter were, in fact, SECRET.

Hegseth must resign. https://t.co/Ya0cG8C840

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 23, 2025

Not coincidentally, another anti-Hegseth report was published on the same day as the WaPo’s big scoop that detailed an internal mutiny at the Pentagon.

“An effort is under way among some Pentagon officials to denounce Pete Hegseth as unfit to serve as Defense Secretary,” according to the Daily Mail which reported on drafts of a letter that has been circulating since May “among high and mid-level military brass and civilian workers” trashing President Donald J. Trump’s pick to carry out reforms and restore warfighting as the military’s primary mission after the “woke” joke of the Biden era.

The outlet, which also cites anonymous sources, reported that those behind the letter are on a mission to “Let the American public know this guy has no clue what he’s doing.”

“They described its contents in the meantime – with complaints ranging from politicized decision-making to department-wide dysfunction, low morale, and a climate of paranoia driven by what they describe as Hegseth’s obsession with rooting out dissent,” reported the outlet which chose a picture of a bare-chested Hegseth with his tattoos displayed as one of the images included with the story.

According to one of the unnamed sources, “He has branded himself the epitome of his so-called ‘warrior ethos’ that he’s always talking about,” adding the opinion that it “appears” that the Defense Secretary is reshaping the armed forces into “a cross between a sweat lodge and WWE.”

“Secretary Hegseth isn’t slowing down for ANONYMOUS Deep State cowards—he’s advancing the most popular Commander-in-Chief’s America First agenda,” said DOD Assistant Press Secretary Jacob Bliss in a post to X, reacting to the Daily Mail’s reporting on the mutineers.

Secretary Hegseth isn’t slowing down for ANONYMOUS Deep State cowards—he’s advancing the most popular Commander-in-Chief’s America First agenda. pic.twitter.com/Z5ZwL4hrGR

— Jacob Bliss (@JacobBlissDOD) July 23, 2025

“Secretary Hegseth has successfully reoriented the Department of Defense to put the interests of America’s Warfighters and America’s taxpayers first, and it has never been better positioned to execute on its mission than it is today,” Parnell said in a statement.

The anti-Hegesth screed could be made public next week in “a joint letter that they would either send to the news media, run as an ad in a major newspaper, or launch online via social media or a newly created website,” according to the Daily Mail.