The United States Inspector General report, which reviewed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s text messaging incident, recommends a single procedural change to enhance the security of classified material.
A recently published United States Inspector General report concluded that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth potentially endangered US military personnel and operations. This risk stemmed from his use of the consumer messaging service Signal in March to transmit sensitive, real-time information regarding a planned attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The classified version of this report was initially shared with Congress.
The report’s sole direct recommendation is for the chief of US Central Command’s Special Security Office to “review the command’s classification procedures for compliance” with Department of Defense (DOD) regulations. This review aims to “issue additional procedures, as necessary, to ensure proper portion marking of classified information.” Additionally, the report refers to a previous IG publication concerning “non–DOD-controlled electronic messaging systems,” which advised the DOD to “improve training for senior DOD officials on the proper use of electronic devices.”
The investigation by the inspector general focused on an event dubbed Signalgate. This term arose because senior US officials utilized a consumer platform for communications typically reserved for secure government channels. A significant detail was the accidental inclusion of journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s top editor, by then-US national security adviser Michael Waltz into the Signal chat. Goldberg later revealed the chat’s existence and his erroneous invitation, highlighting the inherent risks of employing a consumer application for highly confidential government and military matters. Furthermore, alongside precise strike information, such as bomb drop timings, Hegseth reportedly messaged the chat, stating, “We are currently clean on opsec,” referencing operations security.
The Inspector General’s report points out that Hegseth holds the position of “head original classification authority in the DOD,” granting him the power to determine what information requires classification or declassification.
The IG report states, “The Secretary sent sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone.” It further concluded that “the Secretary’s actions did not comply with DOD Instruction 8170.01,” as this instruction forbids the use of personal devices for official business and the transmission of nonpublic DOD information via unapproved commercial messaging applications.
Hegseth reportedly “declined to be interviewed” for the inspector general’s report, opting instead to provide a written statement regarding the Signalgate incidents.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell commented on the report, stating, “This 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.”
Signal is recognized as the leading secure messaging application for general consumers. It employs end-to-end encryption for messages and calls, ensuring that only the sender and intended recipients can access the content, thereby preventing access by external parties or even Signal itself. The platform also gathers minimal metadata, meaning the company possesses very little information about its users and has little to provide in response to law enforcement requests. Despite Signal’s strong security features, the “threat model” and typical usage scenarios for individual consumers differ significantly from those applicable to high-ranking government and military officials.
