Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking heavy fire once again. In what looks like a coordinated attack, Sunday brought a sensational new allegation of Hegseth violating operational security (OPSEC) ahead of the March 15 US strikes on Yemen, and an op-ed from a former Hegseth advocate calling for his removal over "total chaos at the Pentagon." While it's hard to discern motives in DC's House of Cards intrigue, the renewed assault comes after Hegseth reportedly helped dissuade President Trump from launching Israel's long-pursued US war on Iran. 

Last month, Hegseth found himself in the middle of a media and political firestorm after he unwittingly shared detailed information about pending US strikes on Yemen with Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg -- who was errantly added to a Signal group chat for top officials by national security advisor Mike Waltz . Hegseth didn't do himself any favors by downplaying the report and attempting to obfuscate the facts of the scandal -- for example, using wordplay to claim "nobody was texting war plans," but rather minute-by-minute details of the attack. Goldberg's inclusion aside, the use of a common smartphone app to discuss such sensitive details was controversial by itself, raising concerns not only about OPSEC, but also records retention. 

Fast-forward to Sunday, when a double-tap attack on Hegseth started with a New York Times report that Hegseth shared substantially identical, advance details about the March 15 strikes with a second Signal chat group, whose 13 members included his wife Jennifer, brother Phil and personal lawyer Tim Parlatore. Citing four sources familiar with this group chat and its contents, the Times reported that this group -- labelled "Defense/Team Huddle" -- was created by Hegseth himself, who accessed it with his private phone, not his government one.  

While his personal lawyer and brother have DOD jobs, neither seemingly had a "need to know" about the attacks. Hegseth appointed Parlatore as a Navy Reserve JAG Commander, with a focus on improving the training of JAG officers. Phil Hegseth is a DOD liaison with the Department of Homeland Security -- a post that hardly suggests a need to know about the imminent strike, much less a timeline detailing that F-18s, MQ-9 Reaper drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles would be used. 

In other words, this scenario seems to indicate a Secretary of Defense excitedly and unjustifiably sharing inside info with his wife and confidants. Validating his confirmation-opponents' attacks on his lack of experience, the decision seems consistent with a SecDef whose own top military rank was Major in the National Guard. Meanwhile, the Signal chat about Yemen isn't the first time Jennifer Hegseth's involvement in her husband's job has raised eyebrows. Questions have also been raised over why Jennifer -- a former Fox News producer with no DOD job -- has participated in multiple meetings that covered sensitive topics, including one with the head of UK's military to discuss terminating the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine. 

The second half of the weekend blitz against Hegseth came in the form of a Politico op-ed written by John Ullyot, a former champion of Hegseth who resigned from a Department of Defense public affairs role last month. He described the last month as "total chaos at the Pentagon," saying that, given President Trump's "strong record of holding his top officials to account...it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer." 

In addition to the poor OPSEC of "Signalgate" and Hegseth's attempt to use a "vague, Clinton-esque non-denial denial" of the scandal, Hegseth focused on last week's firing of three top Pentagon staffers: senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and chief of staff Colin Carroll. Ullyot wrote that Hegseth loyalists "tried to smear the aides anonymously," dishonestly accusing them of leaking sensitive information. "Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door," wrote Ullyot. The "strange and baffling purge" is causing "disarray," wrote Ullyot, who also called out the odd inclusion of Hegseth's wife in sensitive meetings. 

"The president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon," concluded Ullyot. "Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump [fires Hegseth]." 

No matter how much credence you attach to substance of these attacks on Hegseth, it's smart to consider the possible motives of those who are participating in them: the four people volunteering details about the newly-revealed Signal group chat, Hegseth cheerleader-turned-assailant John Ullyot, the New York Times, and especially Politico -- an outlet with a record of advancing the Deep State agenda. (Never forget the Oct 19 2020 Politico headline: "Hunter Biden Story is Russian Disinfo, Dozens of Former Intel Officials Say.")   

On one front, Hegseth is going all-out on behalf of the national security apparatus, joining Trump in a campaign to throw perhaps every dollar of DOGE savings into a Pentagon rathole in a bid to push the DOD budget beyond $1 trillion:

However, Hegseth may be an intolerable Deep State disappointment on a far more important front -- failing to deliver the US war on Iran that's been a decades-long ambition of the State of Israel and its American collaborators. Last week, the Times reported that Trump killed an Israeli proposal for a US-facilitated, week-long IDF bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear facilities in May, attributing the decision to key naysayers that included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Contemplating the specter of such an attack sparking an all-out war, Trump opted to give diplomacy a chance. 

That's the last thing many Deep State power brokers want.