Report: IG Finds Hegseth Could Have Put Troops in Danger

The Pentagon's watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put US personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Yemen's Houthi militants, sources tell the AP and CNN. Hegseth, however, has the ability to declassify material, and the report did not find he did so improperly, according to one of the AP's sources. That person also said the report concluded that Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using his personal device for official business and it recommended better training for all Pentagon officials.

Hegseth declined to sit for an interview with the Pentagon's inspector general but provided a written statement, that person said. The defense secretary asserted that he was permitted to declassify information as he saw fit and only communicated details he thought would not endanger the mission. The initial findings ramp up the pressure on the former Fox News Channel host after lawmakers from both parties had called for the independent inquiry into his use of the commercially available app.

• In at least two separate Signal chats, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop—before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
• Hegseth's use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. It included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis. Hegseth had created another Signal chat with 13 people that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of the same strike, the AP reports.

• Signal is encrypted but is not authorized for carrying classified information and is not part of the Pentagon's secure communications network.
• The inspector general's review 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.
• CNN's sources say the review also concluded that Hegseth also failed to preserve communications as required by federal law.
• Hegseth said he viewed the investigation as a partisan exercise and did not trust the inspector general, according to one of the AP's sources. The review had to rely on screenshots of the Signal chat published by the Atlantic because Hegseth could not provide more than a small handful of his Signal messages, the source says.