President Donald Trump is “strongly behind” the defense secretary Pete HegsethThe White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, despite new reports that he discussed very sensitive military information on a signal conversation with his family and friends.
Hegseth “does a great job, and he brings a monumental change to the Pentagon,” said Leavitt.
“There are a lot of people in the city who reject monumental changes, and I think, frankly, which is why we have seen a defamation campaign against the defense secretary,” she added.
Hegseth’s latest defense came after NBC News reported On Monday, the American military plans that the defense secretary shared on signal had been sent to him originally using a secure government line for very sensitive information.
In the 10 minutes following the reception of the plans on March 15, Hegseth had shared them in a signal group cat of 13 people who included his wife and brother.
The White House insists that nothing that Hegseth shared on signal was classified.
Hegseth earlier Tuesday blamed “leaks” who no longer work at the Pentagon for the last revelation concerning its use of the signal to discuss military information.
“Once a leak, always a leak, often a leak,” HegSeth said on Fox News. “I don’t have time for leaks, I don’t have time for the hoax press that peddled the old stories of dissatisfied employees,” he added.
Hegseth also defended his communication on signal, saying that “what was shared … whatever the characterization, informal and not classified coordinations, for the coordination of the media and other things”.
The latest reports come about a month after the first revelations that Hegseth discusses the details of the military strikes pending in Yemen on another signal text which inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of “The Atlantic”.
Trump has so far held behind Hegseth in the middle of the controversy, saying on Monday that he was “doing a great job”.
White House officials also have Rejected reports that they started looking for a replacement for HegSeth.
This is a news. Come back for updates.
