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The Pentagon’s watchdog ruled defence secretary Pete Hegseth put American troops at risk and violated department policy when he shared plans for strikes against Houthi rebels in Signal chats in March.
The defence department’s inspector-general concluded in a classified report to Congress that if foreign adversaries intercepted the information sent on the commercial messaging app, it could have endangered US service members and the mission itself, said a person who has seen the report.
The report comes as Hegseth has been embroiled in a furore over the legality of a lethal double strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean in September, as the US weighs further military action in the region, including on Venezuelan soil.
Steven Stebbins, the Pentagon’s inspector-general, concluded Hegseth violated department policy by using his personal device for official business by putting the intelligence in Signal messages.
Stebbins’ report acknowledged Hegseth has the authority to declassify intelligence as he sees fit, but did not comment on whether the secretary took steps to formally declassify the intelligence.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the report is a “total exoneration” of Hegseth.
“[N]o classified information was shared. This matter is resolved, and the case is closed,” he said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
While messages on Signal are encrypted, the app is not approved by the Pentagon for transmitting classified information.
The scandal over Hegseth’s messages erupted in March when he shared sensitive details of the US military campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen in a Signal chat with other senior administration officials that included a journalist from The Atlantic magazine, which published screenshots.
US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz stepped down as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser over the group chat.
Hegseth also sent the sensitive information about the Houthi campaign to a second chat that included his wife and brother.
The defence secretary refused to be interviewed by Stebbins and instead submitted a short written statement, said the person who has seen the report. In the statement, Hegseth claimed his Signal messages did not contain information that would harm the mission or troops, which the inspector disagreed with.
Hegseth’s statement also claimed he could declassify the intelligence as he saw fit, that the investigation was partisan and that he did not trust the inspector-general.
The person who saw the report said Hegseth only provided some of the Signal messages to the inspector-general as part of the investigation, so Stebbins relied largely on the screenshots published by The Atlantic.
The unclassified version of the report is set to be released on Thursday.
The White House has closed ranks around Hegseth in recent days as some lawmakers on Capitol Hill have accused him of committing a war crime when a follow-up strike hit surviving crew members of a suspected Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessel.
Hegseth has sought to distance himself from the order for a second strike. During a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Hegseth said he watched the initial strike but did not “stick around” for the second, which he said was ordered by Admiral Frank Bradley, commander of Joint Special Operations Command.
“I did not personally see survivors,” Hegseth said, adding Bradley had made the “right decision”.
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