2 weeks Ago By Mataeo Smith
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her weekly briefing, where she reiterated the White House's backing of the Secretary of Defense . A reporter questioned Leavitt, "You said on Fox News that the entire Pentagon is working against Secretary Hegseth," and added, "The people who were fired were his own guys.
How do you square it, and you saw to concerns that it was just bad management?" This query came after an awkward moment when Trump failed to high-five a young girl . Leavitt responded by saying, "They were Pentagon employees who leaked against their boss to news agencies in this room," while skillfully avoiding the direct question. She continued, " It's been clear since day one in this administration that we are not going to tolerate individuals who leak to the mainstream media.
" Stephen Hawking predicted exact date of apocalypse - NASA issues warning China issues warning to the world over Trump and promises 'countermeasures' The Trump administration has recently faced criticism, including a controversial post by JFK's grandson Jack Schlossberg stating, "JD Vance killed the pope". "particularly when it comes to sensitive information," Leavitt added. She then commended Hegseth for doing a "tremendous job" and bringing about "monumental change" at the Pentagon.
"There are a lot of people in this city who reject monumental change," Leavitt continued. " and I think, frankly, that's why we have seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense from the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate. "Let me reiterate the president stands behind Hegseth and the change he's bringing to the Pentagon and the results he's achieved thus far speak for themselves," she concluded.
The press briefing comes one day after news that Hegseth had also sent the confidential plans to his mother and brother. According to new information regarding last month's Signal group chat debacle, Hegseth reportedly relayed information from Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.
S. Central Command. According to NBC, the material sent by Kurilla allegedly contained details about when U.
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S. officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges told the news outlet that Hegseth allegedly used his personal phone to send the information transmitted by Kurilla to at least two group chats using the Signal app. Two sources later revealed that less than 10 minutes had elapsed between the time Hegseth had received the information from Kurilla and when he sent it out to two group chats.
"No classified material was ever shared via Signal," stated the Pentagon's chief spokesman Sean Parnell, labeling the accusations as "an attempt to sabotage President Trump and Secretary Hegseth." Both Hegseth and the White House have been rallying to mitigate the fallout. On a recent 'Fox and Friends' episode, Hegseth addressed the claims, asserting that vindictive ex-staffers fabricated the story.
"Brian, I want this to be very clear," Hegseth implored Brian Kilmeade. "We take the classification of new information very importantly. It's very important to us that we safeguard it.
" Hegseth continued, highlighting the department's response: "And so when we've had leaks, which we have had. We did a serious leak investigation and through that leak investigation, unfortunately, we have found some folks that we believe were not holding to the protocols that we hold dear here at the Defense Department," also mentioning, "Through that investigation, they have been moved on, and that investigation continues." In that same morning dialogue, Hegseth emphasized the transparency of Pentagon operations, noting their commitment to protecting sensitive data.
"At this point, those folks who had been leaking are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president's agenda.".
