The review of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal app to discuss sensitive information found that he violated some department protocol.
The War Department Office of Inspector General completed its review of Hegseth’s actions in March that came to light after a journalist was included in a group chat where he discussed impending U.S. military operations, and will release an unclassified version of its findings on Thursday.
The inspector general’s review focused on the secretary’s sharing of specific details about upcoming U.S. military strikes targeting the Yemen-based Houthis. The specifics he provided to other Cabinet officials in two group chats on Signal included real-time updates about the planned operations.
The inspector general found that Hegseth violated some of the department’s regulations but also concluded that, as the secretary, he has the authority to declassify any information he wants, a source familiar with the final report told the Washington Examiner. CNN reported the details of the review.
The source said the inspector general report concludes that had the information been intercepted by a foreign adversary, it could have endangered U.S. military personnel.
The details of Hegseth’s messages were published by the Atlantic earlier this year after the unintentional inclusion of its editor-in-chief in the private chat. It did not publish the contents of the chat until days after the relevant operations had been conducted.
“The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along – no classified information was shared. This matter is resolved, and the case is closed,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell told the Washington Examiner.
Lawmakers have begun commenting on the findings.
“They very clearly stated he should not be using his cellphone and putting … this kind of information on an unclassified system,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told the Wall Street Journal, while Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), his Senate Armed Services Committee colleague, told the outlet that this was a “nothing burger.”
Kelly and Schmitt have been two of the most vocal members of the Armed Services Committee when it comes to Hegseth and the actions of the War Department, President Donald Trump‘s new name for the Defense Department.
The Arizona senator was among a group of six Democratic veterans who made a video last month in which they implored members of the armed forces not to carry out illegal orders. While they accurately stated U.S. law, both Hegseth and Trump have accused them of sedition for, in their interpretation, trying to undermine them and confuse service members about the legality of orders.
Hegseth has ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to review Kelly’s conduct and see whether it broke any regulations within the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Despite not being on active duty, he met the 20-year requirement to retire from the military and, as a result, is still subject to the UCMJ.
Schmitt recently came to Hegseth’s defense earlier this week, with the secretary under new scrutiny for the way the military is carrying out operations targeting drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea.
HEGSETH DIDN’T ‘STICK AROUND’ TO SEE BRADLEY CARRY OUT SECOND BOAT STRIKE ON SURVIVORS
Hegseth “was and is a threat to permanent Washington’s status quo,” the Missouri Republican senator said Tuesday. “They didn’t defeat the nomination, and they tried hard. I saw all the behind-the-scenes craziness. He was their top target. Since then, there have been countless ‘anonymous’ leaks meant to undermine him and thwart President Trump and other realists in the administration. Bogus story after bogus story. It’s the same tired playbook.”
It’s unclear what, if any, repercussions Hegseth will face as a result of the report.
