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By Jason Lemon
Deputy News Director
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The Pentagon's watchdog has concluded that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked endangering American troops when he shared sensitive information on the messaging app Signal earlier this year.
In a report made public Thursday morning, the Department of Defense's Inspector General said Hegseth's messages about planned strikes in Yemen contained information that was "sensitive, nonpublic, operational information" when he pressed send.
But, when asked about the report Wednesday ahead of the release, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Newsweek that it left defense secretary in the clear.
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"The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along: no classified information was shared," Parnell said via email. "This matter is resolved, and the case is closed."
Newsweek has contacted the chief Pentagon spokesperson's office for further comment via email.
Why It Matters
The report comes as Hegseth remains under scrutiny for his handling of more recent strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, aimed at alleged drug smuggling vessels, but the so-called "Signal Gate" in March has remained a key problem for the former Fox News host and veteran to clear up. At the time, military families said trust had been compromised when a journalist was allowed into a messaging chain with Hegseth and other top administration officials.
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What to Know
In its conclusions, the report said:
"We concluded that the Secretary sent sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone. The Secretary is the head original classification authority in the DoD based on Executive Order 13526 and DoD Manual 5200.45 and holds the authority to determine the required classification level of all DoD information he communicates. However, because the Secretary indicated that he used the Signal application on his personal cell phone to send nonpublic DoD information, we concluded that the Secretary’s actions did not comply with DoD Instruction 8170.01, which prohibits using a personal device for official business and using a non-approved commercially available messaging application to send nonpublic DoD information," the report said.
"The Secretary sent nonpublic DoD information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately 2 to 4 hours before the execution of those strikes. Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives."
Read the Inspector General's Report in Full
Pete-Hegseth-IG-Report-on-Signal-Scandal.pdf.PDF
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