U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth shared war plans in second Signal chat: NYT

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, The New York Times reported on Sunday, raising more questions about his use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details.

Hegseth allegedly shared the same details of the attack that were revealed last month by The Atlantic magazine after its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in a separate chat on the Signal app by mistake, in an embarrassing incident involving all of U.S. President Donald Trump's most senior national security officials.

The Times, citing four sources familiar with the message group, said that the second chat included details of the schedule of the air strikes.

"The truth is that there is an informal group chat that started before confirmation of his closest advisers," an official was quoted by the paper as saying. "Nothing classified was ever discussed on that chat."

Hegseth's wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has also reportedly attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Revelations of another use of Signal for classified information come as one of Hegseth's leading advisers, Dan Caldwell, was escorted from the Pentagon last week after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. official.

Following Caldwell's departure, less senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently became Hegseth's deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who was chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were put on administrative leave, officials said.

The Senate's top Democrat demanded that the defense secretary be dismissed over the blunders.

"The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X. "Pete Hegseth must be fired."

The Trump administration has aggressively pursued leaks, an effort that has been enthusiastically embraced by Hegseth at the Pentagon.

The National Security Council and a Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to media messages seeking comment about the additional chat group.

(With input from agencies)