Pentagon Inspector General Finds Hegseth‘s Signal Chat May Have Compromised Military Operation, Sources Say
A Pentagon Inspector General examination has reportedly found that comments made by Fox News host Pete Hegseth in a Signal group chat could have endangered troops during a military operation in Yemen, according to sources familiar wiht the findings.The unclassified report is expected to be released Thursday.
The investigation stems from a March 2024 report by The Atlantic detailing a Signal chat involving hegseth, then-Vice President JD Vance, and then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Waltz inadvertently added The Atlantic’s executive editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group. The chat contained details about an upcoming military plan to strike sites in Yemen controlled by Houthi militants.
According to The Atlantic, Hegseth revealed specifics of the planned strike, including the timing - “THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP” at 1415 (2:15 p.m.) – and the use of F-18 fighter jets and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Sources also indicated hegseth shared similar details in a separate chat with his wife, who does not work at the Pentagon.
On March 15, a U.S. military attack unfolded as described in the Signal chat, hitting dozens of Houthi targets, including missiles, radar, and air defense systems.
Following the publication of The Atlantic report, Hegseth and his chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, repeatedly asserted the information was not classified. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also testified that the chat did not contain classified information. Parnell stated on X (formerly Twitter) on April 20, “There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways thay try to write the story.” Hegseth, in an April 22 Fox News interview, characterized the information as “informal unclassified coordination for media coordination.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee, led by Chairman Roger Wicker and ranking member Jack Reed, requested the IG investigation last spring. Wicker stated at the time, “The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified.”