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Exclusive: ex-Doge staffer Justin Fulcher suggested he had evidence of wiretap that would help investigation
Hugo Lowell at The Guardian:
Days before Pete Hegseth fired three top aides last month over a Pentagon leak investigation into the disclosure of classified materials, according to four people familiar with the episode, a recently hired senior adviser said he could help with the inquiry. The adviser, Justin Fulcher, suggested to Hegseth’s then chief of staff, Joe Kasper, and Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, that he knew of warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) that had identified the leakers. Fulcher offered to share the supposed evidence as long as he could help run the investigation, three of the people said. But when he eventually sat down with officials, it became clear he had no evidence of a wiretap, and the Pentagon had been duped. The problem was that development was not communicated to the White House – so several Trump advisers who were told of the NSA wiretap claim believed that was part of the “smoking gun” evidence against the three aides fired by Hegseth, until they developed their own doubts. The Guardian revealed last month that there were unsubstantiated NSA warrantless wiretap claims underpinning the leak investigation, but its origin story and the involvement of Fulcher in the controversy has not been previously reported. Fulcher has said this account is not correct. In a statement, he said he never suggested there were NSA wiretaps or that he had access to wiretap records. “I never approached Parlatore, Kasper or anyone else offering ‘surveillance evidence’ and did not ask to join an investigation on that or any other basis,” he said. The extraordinary episode adds to the growing portrait of dysfunction inside Hegseth’s front office, which is involved in setting the direction of a department that has a budget of nearly $1tn and oversees more than 2 million troops around the world. The investigation prompted Hegseth to fire his senior adviser Dan Caldwell, the deputy chief, Darin Selnick, and the deputy secretary’s chief of staff, Colin Carroll, creating a leadership vacuum filled by Ricky Buria, the ex-junior military aide to Hegseth considered by the White House to be a liability.
The Guardian has a report on how Justin Fulcher, an aide for the embattled Pete Hegseth, helped upend a Pentagon leak inquiry.
Tim Parlatore’s departure is the latest example of tumult among Trump’s bevy of lawyers.
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Battleground Gallagher: Fighting for Loosened Restrictions Before Trial
On March 30, President Trump demanded that Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher be placed in a less restrictive facility. He was moved to Balboa Naval Medical Center. But were those “restrictions” loosened? Not according to the Defense. The judge in the case has ordered the prosecution to loosen those restrictions so that the Chief can prepare for his trial.
Navy Capt. Matthew D. Rosenbloom, commander of…
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Exclusive: Trump advisers lose confidence in Pentagon leak investigation Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides
Hugo Lowell at The Guardian:
The White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap. The extraordinary explanation alarmed the advisers, who also raised it with people close to JD Vance, because such a wiretap would almost certainly be unconstitutional and an even bigger scandal than a number of leaks. But the advisers found the claim to be untrue and complained that they were being fed dubious information by Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who had been tasked with overseeing the investigation. The episode, as recounted by four people familiar with the matter, marked the most extraordinary twist in the investigation examining the leak of an allegedly top secret document that outlined options for the US military to reclaim the Panama canal to a reporter.
The advisers were stunned again when Parlatore denied having told anyone about an illegal NSA wiretap himself and maintained that any information he had was passed on to him by others at the Pentagon. The leak was first attributed internally to Hegseth’s senior adviser, Dan Caldwell, who was escorted out of the Pentagon and fired last month alongside two other aides, Hegseth’s former deputy chief of staff, Darin Selnick, and the deputy defense secretary’s chief of staff, Colin Carroll. But the illegal wiretap claim and Caldwell’s denials fueled a breakdown in trust between the Pentagon and the White House, where the Trump advisers tracking the investigation have privately suggested they no longer have any idea about who or what to believe. In particular, one Trump adviser recently told Hegseth that he did not think Caldwell – or any of the fired aides – had leaked anything, and that he suspected the investigation had been used to get rid of aides involved in the infighting with his first chief of staff, Joe Kasper. The fraught situation is sure to increase pressure on Hegseth ahead of a Senate hearing next month, and more broadly for his office, which has been roiled by the leak investigation that has now continued for nearly a month with no new evidence or referral to the FBI.
The fallout has left Hegseth with no chief or deputy chief of staff, as he relies on six senior advisers to run his front office, which is involved in setting the direction of the defense department that has a budget of nearly $1tn and oversees more than two million troops. And while Hegseth’s former junior military aide Ricky Buria has in effect assumed the job of the chief of staff, the White House has blocked Hegseth from giving him the job permanently on account of his limited experience and role in internal office drama. The Pentagon declined to comment on reporting for this story. A spokesperson for the White House said in a statement: “President Trump is confident in the secretary’s ability to ensure top leadership at the Department of Defense shares their focus on restoring a military that is focused on readiness, lethality, and excellence.”
DUI Hire Pete Hegseth could be in very big trouble, as he faces scrutiny over illegally wiretapping his staff.
Hegseth. Drunk. Bottom. BF. 😄
#lady lindsey has an heir
This conversation included his wife, brother, lawyer and "about a dozen" others from the secretary of defense's "inner circle," according to
Kelby Vera at HuffPost:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly shared details of an impending military attack on Yemen in a second, more personal Signal chat, as revealed in a New York Times investigation published Sunday and a report from CNN. Around the same time he was exchanging details on planned airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen in texts with a group of senior government, intelligence officials and a journalist mistakenly added to the group, Hegseth was allegedly sharing nearly identical military intel in a group which included his wife Jennifer, his brother Phil, his personal lawyer Tim Parlatore, and about a dozen others from his inner circle. This newly disclosed thread, created by Hegseth and named the “Defense | Team Huddle” group, was reportedly accessed through his personal phone, not his government-issued device. While Phil Hegseth and Parlatore both work for the Pentagon, neither appear to have any apparent reason to be briefed on the operation, which targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 15. The secretary of defense’s wife is not a Defense Department employee and is already being scrutinized over reports that she traveled with her husband to attend at least two highly sensitive meetings with foreign defense leaders alongside him.
An unnamed U.S. government official told the Times that the details in Hegseth’s personal Signal group did not constitute a national security breach. “The truth is that there is an informal group chat that started before confirmation of his closest advisers,” they relayed. “Nothing classified was ever discussed on that chat.”
Pete Hegseth is an embarrassment to national security. Time for him to resign.
See Also:
NYT: Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat
The Guardian: Pete Hegseth shared Yemen attack details in second Signal chat – report
Daily Kos: Uh-oh, Pete Hegseth's really in trouble now
Prosecutors seeking to put a Navy SEAL behind bars sent emails to the defense team and a reporter with tracking software.
