The Pentagon’s Inspector General’s office announced on Thursday that it was opening a probe into Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of an unclassified commercial texting application to coordinate the highly sensitive 15 March launch of US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis.
In a memorandum addressed to Hegseth, the Inspector General’s office said it would examine whether Hegseth’s use of Signal met Defence Department guidelines, including those related to classified information.
Hegseth has repeatedly said no classified information was revealed in the chat, even though it included precise times for the launch of US airstrikes and some targeting details that are regarded as closely guarded secrets ahead of a surprise military operation like the one in Yemen.
The details of the chat were revealed last week by The Atlantic magazine after its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly included in the conversation, causing an embarrassing incident involving all of President Donald Trump’s most senior national security officials.
The case has also renewed scrutiny of Hegseth, who only narrowly won Senate confirmation after a bruising review that raised serious questions about his experience, temperament, and views on women in combat.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defence and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” wrote Steven Stebbins, the acting Inspector General.
“Additionally, we will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth texted about plans to kill a Houthi militant leader in Yemen two hours before the military operation started and included precise details about when F-18 fighter jets, as well as sea-based cruise missiles, would launch.
