Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife was a driving force behind the effort to bar reporters from the Pentagon, according to a new report.
Jennifer Hegseth, who previously served as her husband’s producer at Fox News, has emerged as his “most influential adviser,” The New York Times reported. She has helped ready him for appearances, conducted interviews with prospective staffers and attended high-level meetings.
Democrats and former defense officials have described her degree of access and influence as highly unusual.
Among the clearest examples: she reportedly encouraged her husband’s combative posture toward the press, working with him to keep reporters out of the Pentagon, a Trump administration official told the Times.
Despite having once worked as a journalist herself, “Mrs. Hegseth was eager to revoke the credentials of Pentagon reporters who she felt had written negative stories about her husband,” the outlet reported, citing two unnamed sources.
open image in galleryLast year, the Pentagon required credentialed journalists to agree to new terms to retain access. Many major news organizations refused, arguing that the policy would restrict reporters’ ability to gather information; their correspondents voluntarily surrendered their press credentials.
After a court order struck down key provisions of those terms, the Pentagon introduced revised restrictions requiring reporters to be escorted by Defense Department officials while inside the building, according to Reuters. The Pentagon also closed the “Correspondents’ Corridor,” a longstanding gathering place for reporters. Officials said in March that they were planning a new workspace outside the Pentagon.
These policies have been sharply criticized by press advocates.
Jennifer Hegseth’s outsize influence at the Pentagon has also been demonstrated in several other instances, The New York Times reported.
Early in her husband’s tenure, she participated in interviews with prospective staffers. John Ullyot, a former Pentagon spokesperson, said Jennifer Hegseth conducted a one-on-one interview that was “unexpectedly detailed” and filled with “hard-edged questions.”
“John Ullyot, who was exiled from the MAGA movement by Donald Trump Jr., is acting like a crazy ex, and quite frankly it’s embarrassing. John was terrible at his job and now lashes out at the Secretary any chance he gets,” Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said in a statement provided to The Independent.
open image in galleryJennifer Hegseth was also included in a now-infamous Signal group chat last year in which her husband shared plans for a U.S. attack on Yemen. A journalist from The Atlantic was inadvertently added to the chat, prompting accusations that administration officials had been communicating outside secure channels.
The Times also reported that Jennifer Hegseth attended a sensitive meeting last year between her husband and British defense officials after the United States briefly halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Jennifer Hegseth, who shares seven children with the defense secretary, was present as the British officials spoke with him. A Trump administration official said the British “spoke in general terms” because her presence “made them uneasy.”
“This is not normal,” Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said in an interview last year. “Secretary Hegseth has one of the highest levels of classification access. He can’t just hand that to his wife and say, ‘Here, honey, hold my beer, and hold my classified information.’”
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the Times that Jennifer Hegseth was not present when classified information was discussed.
“Jennifer Hegseth is an accomplished leader in her own right and a devoted military spouse,” Parnell said in a statement provided to The Independent. “She is a vital asset and a true force multiplier for our mission. Because of her exceptional capability and the profound impact of her work, the Department of War not only welcomes her current leadership but actively plans to involve her even more deeply in the future.
“She is simply that valuable to our community and our nation,” he added.