US defence secretary Pete Hegseth exposed sensitive information when he sent details of a pending military strike via a Signal chat on his personal phone, the Pentagon inspector general found.
In a report released on Thursday, the watchdog determined that Mr Hegseth had the authority to declassify the information he had sent – which was originally labelled secret – but that his use of a personal mobile phone “risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD [department of defence] information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives”.
The inspector general’s report is the latest twist in a fiasco that erupted earlier this year when The Atlantic revealed that its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been inadvertently added to the Signal group chat where top officials discussed attack plans against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The investigation was requested by the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in response to the Atlantic story and Mr Hegseth’s participation in the chat. The report noted that Mr Hegseth refused to co-operate with the investigation and would not turn over his personal phone for inspection.
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“This entire situation has been politicized by the media and those looking to obstruct and derail this administration’s progress by creating a false narrative,” Mr Hegseth wrote in a response to the inspector general that was included in its report.
The report said people who were interviewed confirmed previous media reporting that Mr Hegseth had put the same sensitive information in at least one other Signal group chat and also frequently used his personal phone for Pentagon business.
Then-national security adviser Mike Waltz had added Mr Goldberg to the group, but it was Mr Hegseth who transmitted the attack plans, which included precise attack timings and weapons platforms.
Mr Waltz was later removed from his role and became US ambassador to the United Nations, but Mr Hegseth has retained president Donald Trump’s support. Mr Hegseth has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying his Signal messages were “general updates” to “keep everybody informed”. – Bloomberg
