Pete Hegseth just stepped in it massively
When the Secretary of Defense is a Fox News host with zero qualifications for the job and allegations of ongoing alcohol problems, what could possibly go wrong? We’re already getting our answer – and it’s jarringly ugly.
Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth put together a group chat of high ranking government officials in order to discuss US war contingency plans. Okay fine. Except Hegseth mistakenly added a reporter from The Atlantic to the chat. That’s right, the Secretary of Defense accidentally sent secret US war contingency plans to the media.
The Atlantic isn’t publishing any information it received that could compromise national security. But The Atlantic has decided to go public with the fact that the whole thing happened. It turns out Hegseth sent The Atlantic text messages about an upcoming secret bombing mission in Yemen, which then ended up playing out exactly like the text messages said it would.
Hegseth is very lucky that he mistakenly sent the secret war plans to a reporter who was responsible enough not to put the US in jeopardy – as opposed to some shady reporter desperate for a scoop, or perhaps a foreign leader. The Yemen mission could have ended up compromised in potentially deadly fashion.
People on social media are already asking aloud if Pete Hegseth made this mistake because he was drunk at the time. There is, of course, no known evidence of this. But people are going to keep asking the question anyway. Even if Hegseth did make this mistake while sober, it’s still just as inexcusable. This is a fireable offense. Not that Donald Trump will do anything about it. But that just means it’ll become Trump’s scandal to bear.
