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Pentagon Watchdog Finds Defense Secretary Hegseth's Signal Chat Violated Policy, Risked Troops

A Pentagon inspector general report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated regulations and potentially endangered U.S. troops by sharing sensitive military details from a classified email in a private Signal group chat, according to sources familiar with the findings.

A Pentagon watchdog investigation has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated Department of Defense policies and could have jeopardized the safety of American service members by sharing sensitive military information in a private, encrypted Signal chat earlier this year.

According to sources familiar with the unreleased report, the Defense Department's Inspector General determined that Hegseth used his personal device to transmit details about U.S. military operations in Yemen that were derived from a classified email marked "SECRET//NOFORN"—meaning the information was restricted to U.S. personnel only. 

The report concluded that if the information had been intercepted by a foreign adversary, it would have clearly endangered troops and the mission.

The information was shared in a Signal group that included other top Trump administration officials and, inadvertently, the editor-in-chief of *The Atlantic*, Jeffrey Goldberg, who first reported the story in March. The report does not address whether Hegseth declassified the information before sharing it.

This finding contradicts earlier claims by Trump administration officials that the shared material was unclassified. In a separate response to a CBS News Freedom of Information Act request about a similar airstrike in Somalia, U.S. Africa Command stated that releasing such operational details "would foreseeably harm national security."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement saying the review "affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning — no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised," adding that "President Trump stands by Secretary Hegseth."

A classified version of the IG report was sent to Congress on Tuesday, with an unredacted version expected for public release on Thursday. Hegseth has not yet publicly commented on the findings.
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