# Tim Parlatore **Status: stub — expand.** Criminal-defense attorney, Naval Academy graduate, and **[[Pete Hegseth]]'s personal lawyer** — who in March 2025 was commissioned directly into the **Navy Reserve as a JAG officer** by the client he represents, and assigned to advise the Secretary of Defense on restructuring the Judge Advocate General's Corps. ## Why he matters Parlatore is the clearest single illustration of the personal-counsel-as-public-office pattern at Hegseth's Pentagon. He previously represented [[Donald Trump]] on the Mar-a-Lago classified-documents matter, and represented Hegseth against sexual-assault allegations during his confirmation. His commissioning reportedly bypassed the Presidential Personnel Office and Senate vetting; reporting through 2025–26 describes a mid-ranking reserve officer exercising influence far outside his rank — shaping the JAG overhaul toward more permissive law-of-war review, and drafting the Pentagon's press-access restrictions in October 2025. Rep. Jason Crow and Senate Democrats have pressed on the conflict-of-interest question repeatedly. He appears in this vault first as one of the three unauthorized recipients — with Hegseth's wife and brother — in the **second Signal chat** that shared March 15 Yemen strike detail. See [[Signalgate Timeline]] and [[Hegseth Signalgate]]. ## See also - [[Pete Hegseth]] - [[Signalgate Timeline]] - [[Hegseth Signalgate]] - [[Department of Defense]]