Fox News political analyst Brit Hume expressed astonishment after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, his former colleague at the network, attempted to deflect a question about inadvertently leaking plans for airstrikes in Yemen.
Hegseth was one of more than a dozen Trump administration national security officials who were added to a group chat that mistakenly included The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who revealed the government’s massive blunder in a story for the magazine.
Noting the “shocking recklessness” of the officials, Goldberg wrote that one message sent to the group by Hegseth “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”
Goldberg, who has the same initials as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, was mistakenly added to the group by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.
When asked about the story by a reporter, Hegseth’s initial response was to duck the burgeoning scandal and attack Goldberg.
“You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited ‘so-called journalist,’” he said in a response that was blasted out by the Defense Department’s press team.
“Nobody was texting war plans,” Hegseth added. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Hume, for one, couldn’t believe the response, writing on X: “Oh for God’s sake, the administration has already confirmed the authenticity of the message.”
Indeed, the National Security Council told Goldberg, in a statement, “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”
Before Hegseth tried to skirt around the issue by attacking Goldberg, Hume called the incident “a major leak” that involved “details of war plans” during an appearance on Fox News’ Special Report.
“Fortunately, it was leaked to an American citizen and, while he might be considered an enemy to the administration in some quarters, he’s certainly not an enemy of the United States,” Hume added.
Politico reported Monday evening that the fallout from the leak could hit Waltz, with White House officials telling the publication many in the administration think he may have to be forced out of his job for his extraordinary blunder in adding Goldberg to the group chat.
