Beleaguered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is about to see “Signalgate” enter the group chat once again.
On Tuesday, Hegseth got in front of the release of findings from the Pentagon’s independent internal review into his accidental inclusion of a journalist in a Trump administration group chat on impending air strikes in Yemen.
In March, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, published in full the group chat held on encrypted messaging app Signal, after Hegseth had insisted of the contents of the chat, “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
A month later, Hegseth shared more sensitive military information on a second Signal group chat, via the app which was installed on his personal phone.
The Pentagon review has yet to be released, but Hegseth is already in damage control.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the not-yet-public review “clearly a political witch hunt,” according to a written memo reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Parnell told the Defense Department inspector general’s team that Hegseth believed “this entire exercise is a sham, conducted in bad faith and with extreme bias.”
It is unclear when the review will be made public, however, the Post says it could be released in a matter of weeks.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.
Hegseth’s preemptive moves on the findings of the investigation come as he denies reports he planned to quit the Department of Defense to run for political office in Tennessee next year.
Hegseth had “privately” discussed running for office with two people, according to a new report by NBC. One source said their discussion with Hegseth happened in the past three weeks and that it was “serious, not simply spitballing ideas.”
Another person said the talks were also “serious” and while they wouldn’t confirm when the discussions were had, they were since Hegseth became defense secretary in January.
Parnell quickly shut down the claims, stating NBC was a “fake news” outlet who were shopping a “made-up” story.
He stated, “Only two options exist: either the ‘sources’ are imaginary or these reporters are getting punked. Secretary Hegseth’s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump and advancing the America First mission at the Department of Defense.”
This week, Politico reported Hegseth had been privately advised to change course or risk being fired.
The defense secretary was also embarrassed this year after he personally halted military aid being sent to Ukraine, a move then overturned by President Donald Trump, who later claimed he didn’t know who had authorized the aid being stopped.
Hegseth co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend until last year, after being recruited for the Trump administration. The president has remained loyal to Hegseth despite the ongoing controversies and blunders.
