JD Vance reportedly made fun of Pete Hegseth Yemen strike leak on Signal by returning on the platform after the scandal went viral

Earlier this year, Pete Hegseth faced scrutiny after he allegedly shared details regarding secret war plans about airstrikes in Yemen in an unsecured group chat. According to Futurism, Hegseth did not know that a journalist was there in the group chat reading the messages. The New Republic spotted another bizarre part in the chat on Signal.

This was a message reportedly sent by Vice President JD Vance at 2:26 a.m. local time. This was hours after The Atlantic exposed the leak and described the situation as a massive violation of national security. In the message, Vance wrote:

"This chat's kind of dead. Anything going on?"

According to a screenshot taken on March 26, nobody responded to Vance's midnight text. It is unclear if Vance sent the text as a joke, but it was brought to light after the Pentagon inspector general released a much-awaited report on Thursday. According to The Atlantic, its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was unintentionally added to the Signal group along with high-ranking officials from the Trump administration.

The 84-page report indicated that Pete Hegseth's decision to use Signal to discuss Yemen airstrikes was a violation of security protocols. Meanwhile, while JD Vance returned to the group with a bizarre text, others allegedly got busy trying to distance themselves from the situation. According to The Daily Beast, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set the disappearing message time to eight hours.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe also made changes to his profile name and altered it to "John."

Pete Hegseth allegedly discussed bombing a country in a group chat with his wife and brother in it

According to reports by Futurism, the Signal chat leak was not the only violation by Pete Hegseth. He allegedly discussed bombing plans in a group chat that also included his wife and brother. Other allegations against him include Hegseth using one phone for dealing with official top-secret business as well as on social media sites and for sports gambling.

The outlet further reported that Pete Hegseth later denied handing over his cellphone for investigation. He even came up with a written statement explaining that he did not play any part in leaking classified information. In July, Hegseth told the inspector general:

"I retain the sole discretion to decide whether something should be classified or whether classified materials no longer require protection and can be declassified."

He then continued:

"On 15 March 2025, at 1144 ET, I took non-specific general details, which I determined, in my sole discretion, were either not classified or that I could safely declassify, which I then typed into the Signal chat."

According to the recently released report, Pete Hegseth had the right to declassify the information. The report, however, also claimed that despite the classification status, it must be noted that such information could have jeopardized the troops and the mission. According to CNN, the report said:

"Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information."

Despite all the claims and allegations, Pete Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing.

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