Hegseth’s Hot Mess Endangers National Security

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he is working on improving the Defense Department’s warfighting capacity and military readiness. Among his latest improvements: construction of a makeup studio for his television appearances. A Defense Department official said Hegseth is doing his own makeup, not paying for a makeup artist. I guess that counts as efficiency, but no amount of makeup can conceal the damage Hegseth already has done to national security.

[CBS] “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News. 

“The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures. …

“The renovation that was initially planned was estimated to cost more than $40,000, but the ideas were scaled back, sources said.” 

Hegseth is going to need a lot of makeup to look good after the latest egg-on-his-face revelation about breaching national security by breaking all the rules about secure offices. He installed a private line for Signal in a computer in a secure area of the Pentagon so that he could use his cell phone there. Most of the Pentagon is off-limits for all private cell phones, computers, and electronic devices in order to maintain security. But Hegseth wanted to use his personal cell phone there anyway, so he simply ignored security rules. 

[Washington Post] “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the installation of Signal, a commercially available messaging app, on a desktop computer in his Pentagon office, said three people familiar with the matter, illustrating the extent to which he has integrated use of the unclassified communications platform at the center of his political troubles with the highly secure systems the U.S. government relies on to safeguard military plans and other sensitive information.

“In doing so, Hegseth effectively “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cellphone, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an issue that has hounded the Trump administration for weeks. The move followed a discussion among Hegseth and his aides about how they could circumvent the lack of cellphone service in much of the Pentagon and more quickly coordinate with the White House and other top Trump officials using the encrypted app, they added.”

This is only the latest in a string of security breaches by Hegseth, including the Signal conversation that inadvertently included the editor of The Atlantic in real-time discussion of on-going air strikes in Yemen. Also on the chat: senior administration officials, including White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Vice President JD Vance. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Another Signal conversation included “sensitive, advance information about a bombing campaign in Yemen.” This second conversation included Hegseth’s wife, his brother, his personal lawyer, and Defense Department aides. 

The Signal conversations are a breach of security because they are not conducted on secure phone lines, and a breach of federal law because they are deleted rather than preserved as official records.

Hegseth also brought his wife, Jennifer, to high-level meetings with foreign military officials. She is a former Fox News producer, with no government role. 

And that’s not all: now Hegseth’s phone number is out on the internet. The New York Times reports: 

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personal phone number, the one used in a recent Signal chat, was easily accessible on the internet and public apps as recently as March, potentially exposing national security secrets to foreign adversaries.

“The phone number could be found in a variety of places, including WhatsApp, Facebook and a fantasy sports site. It was the same number through which the defense secretary, using the Signal commercial messaging app, disclosed flight data for American strikes on the Houthi militia in Yemen. …

“’There’s zero percent chance that someone hasn’t tried to install Pegasus or some other spyware on his phone,’ Mike Casey, the former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said in an interview. “…

“Even low-level government workers are instructed not to use their personal cellphones and laptops for work-related matters, according to current and former government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.”

Then Hegseth fired top Defense Department officials, who have yet to be replaced, leaving the massively inexperienced Secretary of Defense with giant holes in the tier of officials who might be able to provide some expertise. One of those officials is John Ullyot, who served as chief Pentagon spokesperson and also was responsible for communications at the National Security Council and Department of Veterans Affairs under Trump 1. 

Ullyot strongly supported Hegseth’s nomination and then led Hegseth/DoD’s “public affairs operation,”  before resigning in March. Which is to say—Ullyot bears a lot of responsibility for the godawful mess that Hegseth presides over.

Ullyot wrote in Politico:

“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership. …

“The latest flashpoint is a near collapse inside the Pentagon’s top ranks. On Friday, Hegseth fired three of his most loyal senior staffers — senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense. In the aftermath, Defense Department officials working for Hegseth tried to smear the aides anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation ordered earlier this month.

“Yet none of this is true.”

That’s the verdict of a Trump loyalist. My own judgment would include words like “gross incompetence” and “bordering on treason.” 

Today, Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, is also out. His departure or resignation or firing is just one more bombshell exploded in the Trump/Hegseth attack on the Defense Department. At this point, the damage is so great that it hardly matters whether that attack is malicious, intentional, or simply gross stupidity and incompetence.