On July 13, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a task force between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Defense Department (DOD) to identify and prosecute so-called unauthorized disclosures “of sensitive information to news media,” with the DOD’s Office of General Counsel taking the lead.
Hegseth has been obsessed with alleged leaks. On April 21, he claimed that classified war plans shared on a second Signal group chat were leaked by former staffers seeking to “sabotage” Trump. No evidence was provided. A former defense official claimed that Hegseth spends half of his workday on leak investigations.
What counts as an unauthorized leak remains vague. Whistleblowers disclosing waste, fraud, and illegal behavior are protected from disciplinary action from their employer by the Whistleblower Protection Act. Hegseth himself may be prosecuted under his own terms, by sending potentially classified information to his “wife, brother, and personal attorney” via another Signal group chat.
