Hegseth Smacks Down NY Times for 'Signal Chat' Story, 'Same Media That Peddled the Russia Hoax'

As we’ve reported, the Democrats and their partners in the mainstream media have been after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth since the day he was nominated. They’re desperate for some sort of scandal in the Trump administration that they can use to regain relevance, since they’ve mostly been reduced to stunt trips to El Salvador and promoting political violence.

They hoped to find their new Watergate in the “Signal chat” story where a left-wing reporter was mistakenly included on a chat with Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and others as they discussed potential military strikes in Yemen. That story eventually died down when an investigation revealed that it was an inadvertent mistake and that no actual classified information had been discussed.

But you didn’t think the New York Times would let it go, did you? Of course not. On Sunday, they published their latest gotcha piece, headlined “Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.

On Monday, while attending the White House Easter egg roll, Hegseth slammed the outlet:

.@SecDef Hegseth on "Signal chat controversy": "What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won't give back their Pulitzers, they got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies ... This is what… pic.twitter.com/qYH8O98EtX
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 21, 2025

@SecDef Hegseth on "Signal chat controversy": "What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax, won't give back their Pulitzers, they got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies ... This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations."

Hegseth's Chief of Staff Is Leaving After Three Subordinates Are Suspended on Suspicion of Media Leaks

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell came to his boss’ defense and flatly denied that any classified information had been transmitted and blasted the Grey Lady for relying on the statements of disgruntled former employees:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
4/20/25

STATEMENT:

Another day, another old story—back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) April 21, 2025

STATEMENT: Another day, another old story—back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump’s agenda. This time, the New York Times — and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage — are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President's agenda.
There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story. What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in executing President Trump's agenda.
We’ve already achieved so much for the American warfighter, and will never back down.

As my colleague Chase Jennings pointed out in a column earlier Monday, this administration is different than many previous GOP regimes in that they’re not going to take the slings and arrows of the press lying down. Trump has already signaled strong support for his SecDef, as has Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The press and the Dems will keep digging furiously for their smoking gun, but so far it doesn’t seem as if they’ve found it.

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.

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