The Pentagon’s inspector general said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. military personnel and their mission at risk by using the Signal messaging app earlier this year to discuss a strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. In a classified report, the inspector general reportedly found that Hegseth shared sensitive military information through the encrypted messaging app — not only to Trump administration officials but, by accident, to a journalist.
The penalties for Hegseth’s actions are unclear. According to sources who spoke to CNN, he had the authority to declassify the information beforehand, or he could have asserted that he made an “operational decision” in the moment to share it through a non-secure platform.
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It is still unclear, however, whether he properly declassified the information before sharing it.
The report also stated that Hegseth shouldn’t have used the commercial app and that top Department of Defense officials need more training on the use of these apps, according to CNN, which first broke the news of the inspector general’s findings.
The inspector general finished a review of Hegseth’s use of the Signal app and delivered the final report to him on Tuesday. A redacted, unclassified version was sent to Congress, CBS News reported. The full report remains classified, but officials plan to publicly release an unclassified version on Thursday.
Lawmakers asked the inspector general to examine whether sensitive operational details moved from secure systems onto Signal, whether any classified information was shared, and whether classification and records-retention rules were followed.
The findings come as Hegseth faces intense scrutiny over lethal strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. The Washington Post reported last week that before the first strike, Hegseth issued an order to “kill everybody” on board a boat that officials say was carrying drugs toward the U.S. Critics say the order amounted to a war crime.
The administration has acknowledged that a second strike killed two survivors of the initial strike. Hegseth has defended the operation as lawful, saying the order for the second strike from Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
What the Signal chats contained and who participated
The Signal messages, exchanged in a group named “Houthi PC small group,” were first published by The Atlantic. The magazine’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been inadvertently added to the group chat and wrote about it after the strikes were completed in Yemen.
The chat featured updates from then-National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Vice President JD Vance, as well as posts from Hegseth’s account detailing the aircraft involved and the timing of the strikes.
The National Security Council said the messages published in The Atlantic appeared authentic, while the White House said they were not classified. NBC News reported that similar details sent to Hegseth via a secure government system by then-CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla later appeared in Signal chats with senior officials and, separately, in a family chat.
Lawmaker’s criticisms of Hegseth
The release of the report adds to the criticism that Hegseth is attempting to weather.
Already, several Democratic lawmakers were expressing concern about Hegseth’s judgment, and many were seeking his resignation.
“Pete Hegseth needs to resign or be fired. Now. He’s a walking, talking national security embarrassment,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on social media.
Several Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said the follow-up strike could amount to a war crime.
“Secretary Talk Show Host may have been experiencing the ‘fog of war,’ but that doesn’t change the fact that this was an extrajudicial killing amounting to murder or a war crime,” he wrote. “One thing is clear: Pete Hegseth is unfit to serve. He must resign.”
How officials characterize classification and compliance
Hegseth has said he shared no classified information on Signal. But CBS News reported this summer that the inspector general had obtained evidence that messages sent from Hegseth’s account included details from a classified email.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the department stood by its prior statement that “no classified information was shared via Signal.” The inspector general said it would review compliance with classification and records-retention requirements, CBS News reported.
Who pushed for oversight — and what they asked to see
The investigation began in March following a request from Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
They asked the inspector general to determine if operational details were transferred to unclassified systems, what specific information was shared and what corrective steps were taken.
