FTA:

A person familiar with the contents and those who received the messages, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed the second chat to The Associated Press.

The second chat on Signal " which is a commercially available app not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information " included 13 people, the person said. They also confirmed the chat was dubbed "Defense ' Team Huddle."

The New York Times reported that the group included Hegseth's wife, Jennifer, who is a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser. Both have traveled with the defense secretary and attended high-level meetings.

The White House late Sunday dismissed the report as a "non-story," suggesting that disgruntled former Pentagon employees were spreading false claims.