Overview

• Jennifer Hegseth, wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, attended two high-level meetings with foreign officials where sensitive topics, including U.S. military intelligence on Ukraine, were discussed.
• Defense officials and experts have criticized her inclusion in these meetings, calling it unusual and potentially risky for national security.
• Jennifer Hegseth is not a Department of Defense employee, and it remains unclear whether she holds a security clearance.
• This controversy follows another involving Pete Hegseth’s mishandling of military plans, which were inadvertently shared in a Signal chat that included a journalist.
• Calls for Hegseth’s resignation and further investigations into his actions are growing, but the Department of Defense has not confirmed any protocol violations regarding his wife’s attendance.