War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday described a Pentagon inspector general report on the Signalgate scandal as a “total exoneration,” despite the watchdog finding his use of an encrypted messaging app to share details of a military operation in Yemen posed a security risk.
“No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. Thank you for your attention to this IG report,” Hegseth wrote on X, after details of the inspector general report began trickling out.
The Pentagon’s watchdog found Hegseth put US personnel and the mission against the Yemen-based terror group at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to discuss sensitive information ahead of the March 15 airstrikes, sources familiar with the findings told the Associated Press.
A Pentagon watchdog report found that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth put US personnel at risk by discussing plans for a strike against the Houthis on the messaging app Signal. APThe inspector general, however, did not find that the war secretary improperly declassified material related to the operation against the Houthis.
The report concluded that Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using his personal device for official business and recommended better training for all War Department officials.
Hegseth, in a written statement provided to the inspector general, explained that he only shared details of the operation that he believed would not endanger the mission.
He also asserted that as war secretary, he was permitted to declassify material as he saw fit — a conclusion with which the IG agreed.
Hegseth declined to be interviewed by the inspector general for the investigation.
The classified report was delivered to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday for review.
A redacted version of the IG’s findings is expected to be released Thursday.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) called on Hegseth to resign or be fired by President Trump in light of the report.
The Post’s cover on the Signal group chat scandal.
“An objective, evidence-based investigation by the Pentagon’s internal watchdog leaves no doubt: Secretary Hegseth endangered the lives of American pilots based aboard the USS Harry S. Truman as they prepared to launch a mission against terrorist targets,” Warner said in a statement. “By sharing classified operational details on an unsecure group chat on his personal phone, he created unacceptable risks to their safety and to our operational security.”
The senator indicated that the report mentioned that “the IG is aware of several other Signal chats Hegseth used for official business, underscoring that this was not an isolated lapse” but rather a “broader pattern of recklessness and poor judgment from a secretary who has repeatedly shown he is in over his head.”
Breaking down the military terms used in Signal group chat
- “Trigger Based” = Sensors used to confirm ID of target
- “Strike Drones on Target” = Drones bomb target
- “Sea-based Tomahawks” = Cruise missiles fired from at least one submarine
- “OPSEC” = Operational security
- “Positive ID” = Terrorist’s ID confirmed
- BDA = Battle damage assessment after strike
“Our servicemembers, including those stationed in Virginia and around the world, expect and deserve leaders who honor the sacrifices they make every day to protect our nation and never put them at unnecessary risk,” Warner continued. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Pete Hegseth should resign, or the president must remove him at once.”
In at least two separate Signal chats, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop on the Iran-backed terror group before pilots were airborne.
Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine — who broke the scandal — was inadvertently added to one of the text chains by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and several other Trump administration officials were on the Signal message thread with Goldberg, Hegseth and Waltz as well.
A message from Hegseth in response to Vice President JD Vance.
In a separate Signal chat group, Hegseth reportedly included his wife and brother and shared similar details of the strikes on the Houthis.
Hegseth said he considered the probe to be a partisan exercise and did not trust the Pentagon inspector general, a person familiar with the report’s findings told the AP.
“We believe that this is a witch hunt and a total sham and being conducted in bad faith,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters in August, when asked about the probe.
The inspector general relied on screenshots of the Signal chats published by Goldberg in The Atlantic because Hegseth could not provide more than a handful of the actual messages, the person added.
The messages released by The Atlantic showed Hegseth discussing when the “strike window” would open up and the location of a “target terrorist.”
The various firepower and military aircraft to be used in the strike, as well as timing elements, were also discussed.
Hegseth also mentioned that the US was “currently clean” on operational security, in one of the messages.
After the leak, Hegseth downplayed what he shared on Signal in an April interview with Fox News — describing the contents of his messages as “informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things.”
The Trump administration launched the military campaign against the Houthis in response to the terror group’s frequent targeting of commercial and military ships in the Red Sea.
Airstrikes against the Houthis ended after a few weeks when Trump announced that the group had pledged to stop attacking ships.
With Post wires
