Hegseth’s wife managing his image at the Pentagon

John Bowden, The Independent

The wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took on an active role in managing his public appearances and even crafting messaging issued by the Department of Defense itself, a new report claimed on Wednesday. Jennifer Rauchet, the Washington Post reported, often acts as a go-between who transmits her husband’s plans to agency staffers. The former Fox News producer does not hold an official position at the Pentagon but has been identified as a constant presence at the agency over the past several months. The Wall Street Journal first reported in March that Rauchet was present at two meetings between her husband and his foreign military counterparts where “sensitive” information was discussed. At the time, the Pentagon declined to say if she had any kind of security clearance, which some spouses of officials sometimes do.

Now, the Post reports that Rauchet is involved in at least two group chats using the public encrypted Signal messaging app with Pentagon appointees, and at times has directed agency staffers directly on managing the secretary’s image via social media. “We would always hear that she was saying what kind of videos he should be doing, and what kind of statements he should be doing, and how the press should be handled,” one unnamed person told the Post.

Her inclusion in one Signal group chat was just one of several problematic factors which snowballed into a scandal over the Trump administration’s use of the group messaging app earlier this year. Hegseth, along with other top US officials including National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Vice President JD Vance, was outed as a member of a Signal text chain on which specific sensitive information about US plans to attack Yemen were discussed prior to those attacks taking place. Also on that text chain (accidentally) was the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, who reported the messages after the attack. Though Rauchet was not part of that primary text chain, she was on a separate chain with Hegseth’s brother, Phil Hegseth, a Pentagon appointee working as liason with DHS, and the secretary’s personal lawyer. On that second chain, the secretary reportedly shared very similar information about the attack prior to it being carried out.

The breach in security has dragged the administration down for weeks and led to calls especially for the resignation of Hegseth, who shared the attack plans on the text chain, as well as similar condemnation of Waltz for his apparent erroneous inclusion of Goldberg in the messages. President Donald Trump has expressed his support for the two officials.

But Rauchet’s inclusion in the text chains and continued presence at the Pentagon may in fact be a more significant issue for the administration. The Pentagon has not explained her role at the agency or completed a formal inquiry into whether any of the information shared in the two chains was classified, which Hegseth and others have strongly denied. The agency’s inspector general launched an investigation in early April, which has yet to reach a conclusion.

A DoD spokeswoman said in response to the Post’s reporting: “Secretary Hegseth has delivered more victories to the DoD in 100 days than most Secretaries have in four years. We are focused on RESULTS.” Critics of the administration say that the case is a clear-cut example of Hegseth and others flouting longstanding Defense Department protocols and possibly violating the law regarding sharing of classified information. “The most recent revelations about Hegseth’s having shared military plans with members of his personal circle demonstrates a brazen disdain for rules and protocols that Americans expect their leaders to follow.