A Pentagon inspector general review found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated Defense Department policy by using the Signal messaging app on his personal phone to share sensitive details of planned U.S. airstrikes in Yemen. The report concludes that, had the information been intercepted, it could have endangered U.S. servicemembers and the mission, while noting that Hegseth had the authority to declassify the material. The findings were provided to Congress this week and a redacted version is expected to be released publicly within days.
The inquiry into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app grew out of a March incident in which Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat that included senior officials discussing a planned U.S. strike targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. According to reporting by The Atlantic and subsequent accounts cited in the inspector general’s review, the group chat was created after contact information was imported from a phone belonging to a senior national security aide, and Goldberg’s number was added in error.
A summary of the inspector general’s findings, described to NPR by a source who viewed the report, states that Hegseth sent information about targets, timing and aircraft for the operation to two Signal groups, including one that contained his wife and brother, using his personal device. The information originated in a message from Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, that had been marked "SECRET//NOFORN," according to CBS News and other outlets that have reviewed or been briefed on the report.
The watchdog, led by Pentagon Inspector General Steven Stebbins, concluded that by transmitting this material over an unclassified, non-Defense Department messaging platform and on a personal phone, Hegseth violated Pentagon policies governing the use of commercial applications for official business. NPR reports that the review found Hegseth’s conduct breached rules on both the handling of sensitive operational details and the use of personal devices for official communications.
According to a summary shared with NPR and accounts from other news organizations, the report further concludes that if a foreign adversary had intercepted the intelligence discussed in the chats, it would have endangered U.S. servicemembers and the broader mission. At the same time, the inspector general did not determine whether the information remained classified at the moment it was shared on Signal, noting that, as secretary of defense, Hegseth has original classification authority and therefore the power to declassify such material.
Hegseth declined to sit for an in-person interview with investigators and instead provided a written response, NPR reports. In that statement, he asserted that he was empowered to declassify information and argued that the probe was politically motivated, saying he lacked confidence in Stebbins. The inspector general’s office, however, said it could not establish whether any formal declassification occurred before the Signal messages were sent.
Over the course of the inquiry, Hegseth turned over only a limited number of his Signal messages, according to NPR’s account of the report. As a result, investigators relied heavily on screenshots of the chats previously obtained and published by The Atlantic, a point Stebbins noted in his findings.
The review stops short of accusing Hegseth of unlawfully mishandling classified information. Instead, according to NPR and other outlets, it faults his judgment and his use of nonapproved communications tools, and recommends additional training across the department on the proper handling of sensitive and classified material.
In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell characterized the outcome very differently, saying the findings cleared the defense secretary of serious wrongdoing. "The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along — no classified information was shared. This matter is resolved, and the case is closed," Parnell said, according to NPR.
The White House offered a similar public defense. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the review "affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning — no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised," NPR reports.
Members of Congress reacted along partisan lines. Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NPR that "it’s pretty clear he shouldn’t have been using his cell phone and an unsecure app, unofficial app with regards to DOD, to be sharing that kind of information," adding that "it’s not too hard to see how our adversaries can get that information and pass it on, to the Houthies in this case, and put those lives at risk."
Some Republicans have downplayed the episode. Conservative outlets report that Sen. Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri, has dismissed the controversy as exaggerated and part of efforts to politically damage Hegseth, arguing that the secretary retains the confidence of President Donald Trump.
The investigation was formally requested in April by Sens. Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and the panel’s chair. An earlier NPR report on their referral said the senators asked Stebbins to examine whether the secretary and other Defense Department personnel complied with policies governing the use of commercial messaging applications, as well as classification and records-retention rules.
According to multiple news outlets, a redacted version of the inspector general’s report was transmitted to Congress this week and is expected to be released publicly in the coming days. The review lands as Hegseth already faces heightened scrutiny on Capitol Hill over separate controversies, including a contentious U.S. campaign against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
Editor’s note: NPR has disclosed that its chief executive, Katherine Maher, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation, which helps develop the Signal messaging app. NPR says Maher was not involved in the reporting on this matter.
