XPost: alt.security, sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   From: nospam@ix.netcom.com   
      
   Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday reacted to the revelation he   
   discussed details about an imminent attack on Houthis in Yemen in March in   
   a second Signal group chat -- one that included his wife and brother.   
      
   Speaking to reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll, which he   
   attended with his family, Hegseth attacked those he said were   
   "disgruntled" former employees and the media for what he said was   
   "anonymous smears."   
      
   "I have spoken with the president and we are going to continue fighting.   
   On the same page all the way," Hegseth said.   
      
   President Donald Trump defended Hegseth and said he still has "great   
   confidence" in him as he took reporter questions at the White House   
   celebration.   
      
   "Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job," Trump   
   said of Hegseth.   
      
   "Ask the Houthis how he's doing," the president added.   
      
   Sources told ABC News that Hegseth shared information about a forthcoming   
   attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen in a Signal message chat that included   
   his wife Jennifer, who does not work for the Defense Department, as well   
   as his brother and his personal lawyer.   
      
   Hegseth did not explicitly deny the report as he was asked to respond to   
   the reports on Monday.   
      
   “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then   
   they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to   
   work with me, because we're changing the Defense Department, putting the   
   Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters and anonymous smears from   
   disgruntled former employees on old news doesn't matter,” he said.   
      
   The second Signal chat reportedly occurred around the same time that top   
   Trump officials, including Hegseth, discussed a strike on Houthis over the   
   commercially available app. That text chain came to light because   
   inadvertently added to the chat was The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey   
   Goldberg. The Pentagon's independent inspector general is currently   
   reviewing Hegseth's use of Signal to discuss military actions.   
      
   More than three dozen Democrats have publicly called on Hegseth to resign   
   or to be fired, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. And   
   Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff asked that the National Archives and Records   
   Administration open an investigation into the Trump administration's use   
   of Signal and other non-governmental messaging applications.   
      
   ABC News contributing political correspondent Rachael Bade of Politico   
   reported that Republican Rep. Don Bacon suggested in an interview that   
   Trump should fire Hegseth -- making him the first congressional Republican   
   to do so.   
      
   White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, pressed on the latest   
   revelation on "Fox & Friends" on Monday, said "the president stands   
   strongly behind Secretary Hegseth" and said Hegseth "is doing a phenomenal   
   job leading the Pentagon."   
      
   The use of Signal to discuss sensitive military operations may complicate   
   ongoing investigations into potential leaks involving the first known   
   group chat, which included top aides and other members of Hegseth's team -   
   - at least three of whom have been since fired in relation to the inquiry.   
      
   Those officials -- Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick -- have   
   since spoken out against what they say are baseless accusations against   
   them.   
      
   "At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were   
   investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there   
   was even a real investigation of 'leaks' to begin with," they said in a   
   joint statement on X on April 19.   
      
   Leavitt, when responding to the Hegseth news on Monday, also sought to   
   blame former employees as she defended the defense secretary.   
      
   “The administration and the president have taken a very strong stance   
   against anyone who leaks, especially sensitive and classified information   
   that can put our troops and our war fighters at risk," Leavitt said on   
   Fox. "And you've seen the secretary has taken very strong action to rein   
   in the leakers at the Pentagon and he will continue to do so I'm sure."   
      
   Meanwhile, a watchdog group is renewing its lawsuit against the Trump   
   administration over the “widespread” use of Signal, arguing that Cabinet-   
   level officials have failed to preserve government records as required by   
   law.   
      
   The group asked a federal judge to declare the use of Signal unlawful and   
   direct the matter to the attorney general to attempt to recover the   
   “unlawfully destroyed records.”   
      
   American Oversight originally filed its lawsuit over the use of Signal   
   last month and secured an order requiring the Trump administration to   
   preserve the messages; however, in the weeks since Judge James Boasberg   
   issued his order, multiple Cabinet-levels have been unable to fully save   
   the messages. Some officials have been able to preserve portions of the   
   chat, and a CIA representative told Boasberg that no substantive messages   
   could be recovered from CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s phone.   
      
   Citing public reporting -- including that about Hegseth’s chat with his   
   wife and brother as well as additional reporting regarding the existence   
   of 20 or more foreign policy-related Signal chats -- American Oversight   
   argued that the unlawful use of the commercially available application is   
   common across the Trump administration.   
      
   “It is now clear that the use of Signal to conduct official government   
   business by administration officials is widespread,” it argued.   
      
   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hegseth-trump-same-page-after-2nd-signal-   
   chat/story?id=121010785   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)