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CNN Star Brutally Roasts Pentagon Pete

The CNN host rehashed one notable leak from Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth’s war on leaks is hypocritical, one CNN journalist pointed out.

On Monday, the Defense secretary, 46, announced on X that the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice had created a joint task force to “identify and prosecute leakers,” warning that anyone caught disclosing sensitive military information would face “the full force of the law.”

“Leaked information risks lives,” he said. “Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust, and those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.”

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But CNN’s Jake Tapper wasn’t about to let that slide. The host of State of the Union pointed out that Hegseth himself was responsible for the humiliating “Signalgate” scandal, when The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a group chat in which Hegseth openly discussed attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen with Trump administration and intelligence officials.

“I know of one leak that put our brave pilots at risk!” Tapper, 57, wrote on X in response to Hegseth’s announcement. He paired the post with a link to the inspector general’s report detailing how the Trump appointee used Signal to share classified information with family members.

He then quoted directly from the report. “Finding: The Secretary sent nonpublic DoD information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately 2 to 4 hours before the execution of those strikes… Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives.”

Tapper also highlighted the report’s finding that “the Secretary’s actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.”

The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes after a string of embarrassing stories about Hegseth have surfaced in recent months.

Last week, CNN reported that Hegseth was enraged after boarding a Navy ship in June for what was supposed to be a routine visit, only to discover that multiple sailors were ignoring his demand that all service members be clean-shaven.

After learning that many rank-and-file troops had disregarded his directive discouraging beards, the image-conscious Hegseth reportedly ordered Pentagon officials to convene a series of meetings reminding military personnel of his grooming standards and other workplace expectations.

Data leaked to The Washington Post in May revealed that U.S. forces were expending more resources defending Israel from missile strikes than Israeli forces themselves.

Around the same time, another leak revealed that U.S. intelligence still assessed Tehran was up to a year away from producing a nuclear weapon—the same estimate as before last June’s strikes, despite Trump’s repeated claims that the attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

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Laura EspositoBreaking News Reporter

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