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Pete Hegseth's Signal chat use on Yemen strike put US troops at risk, finds Pentagon watchdog
The Inspector General's report, however, found that Pete Hegseth has the authority to declassify material but did not determine that he did so improperly.
The US Inspector General delivered a review of defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal app during a military strike on Yemen's Houthi rebels and found that he put US personnel and their mission at risk when he used the messaging app to convey sensitive information about the mission.
According to the sources familiar with the investigation, as quoted in a CNN report, the probe by the inspector general's office, however, concluded that Hegseth did not violate rules on classification because he has the authority to declassify information.
The review by the Pentagon inspector general’s office was delivered to lawmakers, who were able to review the report in a classified facility at the Capitol. A partially redacted version of the report was expected to be released publicly later this week.
Pete Hegseth reacted to the report through a post on the social media platform X, claiming that it meant “total exoneration” for him.
“No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. Thank you for your attention to this IG report,” he wrote in the post.
What prompted the investigation?
The probe into Pete Hegseth's conduct was sparked by the Atlantic magazine's revelation in late March that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which US officials, including the defence secretary and then-national security advisor Mike Waltz, discussed strikes on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The magazine initially withheld the details that the officials discussed, but later published them after the White House insisted that no classified information had been shared and accused Goldberg of lying.
The chat included messages in which Hegseth revealed the timing of strikes hours before they occurred and provided information on the aircraft and missiles involved, while Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of the military action.
