(Photo from Senator Wicker on X)
- National defense officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, used the Signal app to discuss military strikes in Yemen. That group chat raised security concerns, prompting an Inspector General inquiry.
The Pentagon Inspector General is releasing two reports Thursday regarding the use of the Signal app by top Trump defense officials to discuss U.S. military action plans in Yemen earlier this year.
It was made public in March that national security officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, used the Signal app to discuss military strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, who at the time was the National Security Advisor, reportedly set up the group chat. An editor with The Atlantic was mistakenly included in the group and later published the chat’s contents, raising security concerns.
Soon thereafter, Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, the top Republican overseeing the military as the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, joined Democrat Ranking Member Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island in requesting the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense conduct an inquiry and provide them with answers to what was communicated in the chat along with any remedial actions taken as a result.
The two Senators also requested an assessment of DOD classification and declassification policies and an assessment of whether any individuals transferred classified information, including operational details, from classified systems to unclassified systems, among other points of interest.
READ MORE: In wake of Signal-gate, Senator Wicker says he and Secretary Hegseth “are working in lockstep”
The watchdog report to be released Thursday examined only Hegseth’s use of the Signal app, not the other officials included in the group as they are outside of the Pentagon’s purview. While multiple sources said the classified report stated that officials risked endangering troops and revealing military tactical planning, Hegseth’s use of the messaging app did not break the law. Ultimately, the Secretary is granted broad declassification authority under the law.
Hegseth’s critics, which are mounting by the day, rushed to seize on the notion that the Secretary put service members at risk. Hegseth has again drawn scrutiny in recent days over the military strikes on drug trafficking ships in the Caribbean.
For his part, Senator Wicker believes the IG report show “that the Secretary acted within his authority to communicate the information in question to other cabinet level officials.”
“It is also clear to me that our senior leaders need more tools available to them to communicate classified information in real time and a variety of environments,” Wicker said. “I think we have some work to do in providing those tools to our national security leaders.”
Wicker expressed gratitude to acting Inspector General Stebbins “for his hard work and diligence in carrying out this process.”
“From the beginning, we have asked that this matter be given the attention it demands and a full account of the facts to be presented. Accordingly, the Inspector General has been able to deliver exactly that,” Wicker added.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said the IG report “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 stated.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump stands by Secretary Hegseth.
“The review affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning — no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised,” Leavitt said.
