News over the weekend that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife Jennifer was included in a second group chat where he shared sensitive military operations details has focused attention on the prominent role she has occupied at the Pentagon without being formally employed during her husband’s short tenure running the US military.

Jennifer Hegseth has been a constant presence in her husband’s inner circle from even before he was confirmed to the Cabinet job.

Her involvement thrust her back into the spotlight over the weekend, when it was reported that she was in a Signal group chat with her husband, his brother, and his lawyer, in which the secretary disclosed sensitive information about military operations against the Houthis.

While Hegseth’s brother Phil and his lawyer Tim Parlatore have official positions within the Defence Department, Jennifer Hegseth does not.

A source familiar with the situation told CNN Jennifer Hegseth submitted paperwork for a security clearance, but it was unclear if she received one.

When asked by CNN if Jennifer Hegseth has a clearance, a spokesperson said the department does not discuss security clearances for any individual.

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, however, added that Jennifer Hegseth has “never attended a meeting where sensitive information or classified information was discussed.”

Multiple sources told CNN that as Hegseth has grown increasingly paranoid about the potential of leaks to the media within the Pentagon and has begun largely depending on a small circle for counsel, including his wife.

CNN previously reported that the group chat that included Jennifer Hegseth was originally created to strategise during his confirmation process, but that it continued being used after he was confirmed.

Hegseth said Tuesday in an interview on Fox and Friends that what “was shared over Signal, then and now, however you characterise it, was informal, unclassified coordination, for media coordination, other things”.

“That’s what I’ve said from the beginning,” he said.

Wilson told CNN that Jennifer Hegseth “is an incredibly accomplished woman and leader.”

“She is a trusted adviser to her husband and an advocate for military families,” she said.

Jennifer Hegseth has been a near-constant presence around her husband since his confirmation process earlier this year, when she was frequently seen attending his confirmation meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.

Her attendance quickly caught the attention of lawmakers and their staff, a Senate aide told CNN.

“She attended every single one of his meetings with Republican senators, which we’re not aware of any nominee for any nominated position doing,” the aide said.

They added there was particular frustration among some of the female senators who met with him and were looking to ask questions about allegations of sexual assault.

Her presence “totally changed the dynamic” of the conversations around those allegations, they said.

A former senior Pentagon official who served under a Republican administration told CNN that they had “never heard of anyone” bringing their spouse to an office meeting, and that it “bothered a lot of senators.”

“What I’ve seen with [Pete] Hegseth – never in my life have I ever seen this,” the former senior official said of the regular presence of the secretary’s wife.

Attended meeting with key ally

She has also attended at least one official meeting with her husband; she joined a bilateral meeting at the Pentagon in March between Hegseth and UK Defence Secretary John Healey.

The Pentagon spokesman at the time, John Ullyot, who has since spoken out against Hegseth, told CNN previously that Jennifer Hegseth is “the wife of the Secretary of Defence, and she is welcome any time in the Pentagon”.

Wilson told CNN that Jennifer Hegseth “exited the meeting before any sensitive and classified discussions occurred”.

The former senior Pentagon official said Jennifer Hegseth’s presence at all is “unprecedented.”

“I have never in my professional life seen a spouse sit in on a meeting with counterparts from other countries, where they talk through substantive matters related to our relationship with these foreign militaries,” the official said.

A former Pentagon spokesperson under Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chris Meagher, said Jennifer Hegseth’s presence in bilateral meetings and Signal chats “where he’s sharing sensitive and likely classified information” is “bewildering.”

“Not only is it unlikely that his wife has a security clearance, but she definitely does not have a need to know the sensitive classified information that Pete Hegseth is apparently sharing with several different text chains,” Meagher said.

Both her presence in the Healey meeting, and her inclusion on a Signal chain where he was discussing military operations, could raise concerns among foreign leaders about Hegseth’s ability to keep sensitive information to himself, Greg Williams, the director of the Project on Government Oversight’s Centre for Defence Information, said.

“It raises serious concerns that Hegseth doesn’t understand the boundaries between his personal life and professional life,” Williams said.

“The strength and safety of the United States depends very heavily on our relationships with close allies … if they don’t believe our defense secretary has a reasonable understanding of boundaries between his personal life and professional life, it will be very difficult for them to share the sensitive information that they would if they did trust in those boundaries.”

A US official told CNN that Jennifer Hegseth is leaning on her experience as a Fox News producer to help her husband navigate the media environment and shares a similar distrust to him of many media outlets besides Fox, with whom the defence secretary has done numerous interviews.

The official added that she has also played a role in building out her husband’s public affairs team at the Pentagon.

For any high-level position, the Senate aide recognised, it’s common for an official to lean on their spouse for support or advice.

But the Hegseths have appeared to take it a step further, they said, and it’s being noticed.

“This has been a well-noticed and weird point throughout his tenure … and it’s been a concern to us,” the aide said.

“Any principal in the government, theoretically, is going to turn to their spouse or partner for advice – like anybody would in any high-level position, in the government or really any profession,” they added.

“But this is a pretty bizarre situation.”