Pete Hegseth’s latest excuse is much of the same: It’s the media’s fault

In late March, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published an extraordinary story.

Goldberg revealed that Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, texted American plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen to top U.S. intelligence and military officials. But, stunningly, included in that insecure text chain was Goldberg himself.

It was an unimaginable breach of security to text someone outside of security clearance.

And what was Hegseth’s response? To attack the well-respected Goldberg as a journalist, saying he was a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.” (None of which is remotely true.) Hegseth also downplayed what he wrote in the texts, saying they weren’t war plans, although clearly it was proven to be sensitive material when Goldberg and The Atlantic released the transcripts of the texts.