A damning internal investigation from the US Department of Defense has concluded that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth violated security protocols and potentially put American military personnel in danger.
Secret Yemen Strike Details Shared on Unsecure App
The report, compiled by the Pentagon's inspector general, centres on a March incident where Hegseth used the messaging application Signal to discuss details of a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. According to a source familiar with the findings, the information shared was classified as secret.
Signal is a publicly available, encrypted app but it is not authorised for the transmission of classified government information. The chat group reportedly included several high-profile officials, including Senator JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and the then-national security adviser, Mike Waltz.
Risk to Troops and Refusal to Cooperate
The inspector general's assessment determined that if the sensitive operational details had been intercepted by a hostile foreign power, it could have directly endangered the lives of US service members involved in the mission. The existence of the chat came to light after a reporter from The Atlantic was inadvertently added to the group.
The report notes that Hegseth, who attended a White House cabinet meeting on 2 December 2025, possesses the authority to declassify information. However, it remains unclear whether he formally exercised that power for the material shared in the chat. Notably, the defence secretary refused to be interviewed by investigators, submitting only a brief written statement.
In his defence, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not risk lives or compromise the mission, asserted his declassification rights, and labelled the inspector general's office as partisan.
Report Heads to Congress as Scrutiny Grows
The completed report has been shared with Congress, and an unclassified version is anticipated for public release later this week. The conduct of other officials in the chat, such as Vance and Ratcliffe, was not examined as they fall outside the Pentagon's internal jurisdiction.
This incident adds to existing scrutiny of the administration's national security protocols and raises significant questions about the use of private messaging apps for sensitive government communications.
