Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth’s use of Signal broke policy : NPR
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watches President Trump speak during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
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A Pentagon watchdog has released a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated agency policy by using the messaging app Signal to discuss U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.
The investigation’s findings, released Thursday, are the culmination of a months-long investigation by Pentagon Inspector General Steven Stebbins. This was launched after a journalist from The Atlantic reported in March that he had been added to a Signal group chat where a handful of senior officials were discussing plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The 84-page report concludes that Hegseth’s decision to share highly sensitive military plans on the commercially available encrypted messaging app, using his personal cell phone, could have endangered the security of the U.S. military and the mission.
“The Secretary sent nonpublic information to DoD identifying the quantity and times of strikes by U.S. aircraft flown over hostile territory via an unapproved and unsecured network approximately 2 to 4 hours before those strikes were executed,” according to the report.
“Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information via Signal risks compromising sensitive DoD information, which could harm DoD personnel and mission objectives,” it added.
Hegseth declined to be interviewed for Stebbins’ investigation and instead provided only a written statement in which he argued that the information he shared in the Signal chat did not require classification.
In a statement released before the report was released, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the findings showed Hegseth did nothing wrong.
“The Inspector General’s review is a COMPLETE exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along: no classified information was shared. This matter is resolved and the matter is closed,” Parnell said.
NPR Disclosure: NPR CEO Katherine Maher chairs the Signal Foundation board of directors.
