A classified investigation by the Inspector General (IG) has found that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth potentially compromised the safety of American military personnel. The probe centred on his use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to share highly sensitive, real-time plans for military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this year, according to a CNN report citing four sources.
Real-Time Strike Details in Group Chats
The IG report concluded that sharing such operational specifics over Signal "could have endangered American troops and mission objectives." Messages originating from Hegseth's Signal account were sent to a group chat, providing specific, real-time updates on planned US military actions. It remains unclear if Hegseth properly declassified the information before disseminating it.
Among the recipients were several senior Trump administration officials. In a significant breach, The Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to the chat and received the classified updates. Another separate Signal chat that received sensitive information included Hegseth's wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
IG Findings and Unanswered Questions
The report explicitly states that Hegseth "should not have used Signal" to transmit such sensitive military information. It also calls for better training for senior Defense Department officials on proper information-handling protocols. Investigators also examined whether someone other than Hegseth could have sent the messages from the chat named "PC Houthi Small Group" or if others had access to his phone.
While the IG acknowledged that Hegseth holds the authority to declassify information, investigators found no documentation to support his claim that sharing the plans was "an operational decision in the moment." The full consequences of this disclosure are not yet clear.
Report Release and Broader Review
The classified version of the IG report was sent to Congress on Tuesday night. An unclassified version is expected to be made public on Thursday, December 4. This inquiry forms part of a broader review into Hegseth's use of the encrypted messaging application for official communications.
The incident highlights critical vulnerabilities in how top-level defense officials handle classified operational data and underscores the risks of using private, encrypted platforms for state secrets, regardless of the intended security.
