Pentagon chief under scrutiny for wife's presence at key meetings
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth took his wife, Jennifer, to at least two meetings where security issues were discussed, according to the "Wall Street Journal," citing individuals present at these events. Hegseth's wife is a former journalist for Fox News.
One of the meetings attended by Hegseth's wife took place on 6 March at the Pentagon. It involved a conversation with the UK Defence Minister, John Healey. "WSJ" noted that it was a delicate moment in transatlantic relations, as the day before, the US had suspended intelligence support for Ukraine.
Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the British Army Staff, was also present at the meeting. According to the newspaper's sources, politicians discussed the reasons behind the American decision to suspend intelligence support for Ukraine and the future of military cooperation between the US and the UK.
Jennifer is not a Pentagon employee. Although partners are sometimes granted a category allowing them access to classified information (known as security clearance), the US Department of Defense has not disclosed whether Hegseth's wife has such access. The newspaper reported that Jennifer did not respond to journalists' inquiries on this matter.
The wife of the Pentagon chief is not the only member of the Hegseth family involved in Pete's daily work. Philip Hegseth, the brother of the US Secretary of Defense, also travels with him and was recently appointed as a liaison between the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
According to "WSJ," Jennifer also attended a meeting at NATO headquarters, where officials discussed support for Ukraine. The newspaper's sources stated that this was a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, which is a forum for coordinating arms deliveries to Ukraine fighting against the Russian invasion.
When you have a meeting with ministers or high-ranking NATO officials, sensitive security issues are always discussed there, assessed Republican Chuck Hagel, who was the Secretary of Defense under President Barack Obama.
The Trump administration under fire
In Hagel's view, taking someone who is not an official to such a meeting causes the participants to start wondering what is happening, thus causing unnecessary anxiety.
The US Secretary of Defense, along with, among others, the President's National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Vice President J. D. Vance, recently came under fire because they created a group on the messaging app Signal, where they discussed and informed each other about the US forces' attack on Houthi rebel positions in Yemen. They accidentally added the editor-in-chief of "Atlantic" magazine to this chat, who initially couldn't believe what had happened and later revealed the contents of the "secret" conversations.
