Slippery Karoline Leavitt dodges question at heart of Hegseth Signal group chat scandal: “What are they hiding?”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped out in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her weekly briefing, where she

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped out in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her weekly briefing (Image: The White House)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped out in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her weekly briefing. During the briefing, Leavitt once again reiterated the White House’s support of the Secretary of Defense.

“You said on Fox News that the entire Pentagon is working against Secretary Hegseth,” one reporter asked the press secretary. “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 comes after Trump had an awkward senile moment with a young girl who held out her hand for high five.

“They were Pentagon employees who leaked against their boss to news agencies in this room,” Leavitt said, while evading the question.” It’s been clear since day one in this administration that we are not going to tolerate individuals who leak to the mainstream media.” The Trump admin has come under fire lately, including most recently when JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg said “JD Vance killed the pope” in and explosive post.

During the briefing, Leavitt once again reiterated the White House’s support of the Secretary of Defense.  (Image: AP)
“particularly when it comes to sensitive information,” added Leavitt. The press secretary then praised Hegseth for doing a “tremendous job” and for bringing “monumental change” to 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.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets.

The press briefing comes one day after news that Hegseth had also sent the confidential plans to his mother and brother.  (Image: Getty Images)
Three U.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,” said the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, who called the allegations “an attempt to sabotage President Trump and Secretary Hegseth.”

The press secretary then praised Hegseth for doing a “tremendous job” and for bringing “monumental change” to the Pentagon.”  (Image: AP)
Both Hegseth and the White House have been on damage control. During an interview on Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, Hegseth launched a verbal attack on the alleged “disgruntled” former employees who, he claims, made up the chat.

“Brian, I want this to be very clear,” Hegseth said to Brian Kilmeade. “We take the classification of new information very importantly. It’s very important to us that we safeguard it.”

Both Hegseth and the White House have been on damage control after the news leaked (Image: Getty Images)
“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,” he added. “Through that investigation, they have been moved on, and that investigation continues.”

During the morning interview, Hegseth touted that everything done at the Pentagon is “above board” and that they were trying to safeguard information. “At this point, those folks who had been leaking are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president’s agenda.”