Topline
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated Pentagon policy that prohibits use of a personal device for official business when he used a Signal chat to discuss military strike plans and failed to properly retain the messages as required by federal law, the Pentagon inspector general found in a report released Thursday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC on December 2, 2025. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Key Facts
Hegseth’s “actions created a risk to operation security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots,” the IG wrote.
The information Hegseth sent via Signal, detailing plans for attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen in March, came from a classified email from the Commander of the U.S. Central Command, the report says.
Hegseth, who declined to be interviewed by the IG, has the authority to declassify information and told the inspector general in a written statement the Signal messages he sent were not classified and were a summary of the commander’s email.
The 84-page report was issued after the scandal unfolded in March, when Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported he had been added to the Signal group chat with top Trump officials by then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Hegseth used the group chat to send a detailed timeline of military plans for striking Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 15 hours before it was set to take place.
The IG recommended as a result of the report the U.S. Central Command office review its classification procedures to ensure materials are properly marked.
Chief Critic
“It said he was in violation of some DoD regulations,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters after reading the report. “So whether that’s breaking the law, you got to figure that out.” Kelly added: “He needs to make sure he doesn’t do this again, because next time something really, really bad could happen.”