Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information marked as classified on a personal Signal chat about a pending U.S. military operation in Yemen, according to a Defense Department inspector general report delivered to Congress this week, raising new questions about his handling of sensitive battlefield intelligence.
The findings, described by two people who have read the report, cap an eight-month investigation into Hegseth’s use of the encrypted but unclassified messaging app to circulate details of planned U.S. airstrikes in March. Inspectors concluded the information he shared had been designated “secret” and could have endangered American forces if intercepted by a foreign adversary, the people said.
The watchdog also found that Hegseth violated Defense Department regulations by using his personal phone for official business, an issue investigators said was not in dispute.
Hegseth disputes findings; investigators disagree
Hegseth did not sit for an interview with investigators but submitted a brief written statement insisting he shared no classified material and believed the information he circulated would not compromise the mission or troops involved. Investigators “did not agree with that assessment,” the report said, according to the people briefed on its contents.
The report acknowledged that as defense secretary, Hegseth is the government’s “original classification authority” and has the power to declassify information. But investigators did not determine whether he followed required procedures to declassify the operational details he shared on the chat.
Hours after lawmakers received the findings, Hegseth posted on X: “No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed.”
The White House backed him. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the review “affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning — no classified information was leaked,” adding that “President Trump stands by Secretary Hegseth.”
Lawmakers say violations appear clear
Several lawmakers who reviewed the report disputed the administration’s framing.
“It said he was in violation of some DOD regulations,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Whether that’s breaking the law, you’ve got to figure that out. He needs to make sure he doesn’t do this again because the next time something really, really bad could happen.”
Congressional aides said the report was provided to the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees on Wednesday. A public, redacted version has not been released.
Screenshots filled gaps in missing messages
The investigation was complicated by the fact that Hegseth provided only a small portion of the Signal messages investigators requested. The inspector general relied heavily on screenshots published by The Atlantic after an editor was mistakenly added to the group chat containing senior Trump national security officials.
Those screenshots appeared to mirror classified information U.S. Central Command provided to Hegseth minutes before the operation. According to NBC News, the secure briefing sent by then-CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla included timelines for U.S. fighter jets’ departures and target strikes — details that could have put pilots in grave danger if disclosed.
U.S. officials told NBC News that much of that same information later showed up not only in the senior-staff group chat but also in a smaller Signal conversation that included Hegseth’s family members and personal attorney.
Report lands amid separate controversy over Caribbean strike
The release of the watchdog review comes as Hegseth faces scrutiny over a separate decision to authorize a second strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea, which the Pentagon said carried 11 people. The first strike left at least two survivors.
At a White House Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Hegseth said he did not personally see survivors. “The thing was on fire. It was exploded in fire and smoke. You can’t see it,” he said. “This is called the fog of war.”
The inspector general’s findings are expected to intensify oversight pressure from Congress, where bipartisan concern has been simmering over Hegseth’s management of classified information and his command decisions in active military operations.
