US defence secretary Pete Hegseth risked imperilling American troops by sharing information that could have been intercepted by a foreign adversary, according to a Pentagon watchdog.
Sky’s US partner NBC News is reporting that the Inspector General also found that Mr Hegseth violated military regulations by using his personal phone for official business.
The detail circulated in a group chat on the Signal app in March this year related to an imminent strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Messages reportedly posted by Mr Hegseth included: “1415: Strike drones on target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP).”
Another read: “We are currently clean on OPSEC” – that’s operational security, suggesting the sender recognised the sensitivity of the information.
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A journalist from The Atlantic had been inadvertently added to the group chat and reported how the top-secret military operation had been shared both in advance and in real time.
The Pentagon has weathered many scandals but rarely has it faced a convergence of crises that point so clearly to the man at the top.
Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary – the former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth – only got the job on the casting vote of Vice President JD Vance.
Signal-gate was the first in a series of scandals that have blighted his first year in office.
The Pentagon press corps walked out over draconian restrictions imposed by the Secretary of War.
This week, he has been defending a second strike on a boat in the Caribbean, the vessel having already been incapacitated. Critics call his actions a “war crime”.
It has been crisis after crisis and the Signal-gate report will bring more questions about his ability to not just lead the world’s most powerful army but also protect US troops.
The ‘Signal-gate’ scandal led to bipartisan calls for Mr Hegseth’s resignation, but it was Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz, who was also in the group, who lost his job.
It later emerged that Mr Hegseth had created a second Signal group, including his wife, brother and personal lawyer, and shared much of the same detail there.
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The information came from an email labelled ‘SECRET/NOFORN”, meaning it was classified and not to be shared with foreign nationals.
Mr Hegseth, who has renamed his office The Department of War, declined to be interviewed by those investigating what became known as ‘Signal-gate’.
In a written submission, he said he only shared information that he thought would not risk the mission or troops carrying it out.
