By Olivia Gazis
Updated December 4, 2025
The Pentagon inspector general concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated Defense Department rules and federal record-keeping laws by using his personal phone to share nonpublic information about U.S. military operations in Yemen in a private Signal group chat earlier this year. The IG’s unredacted report, released Thursday, said the disclosures could have endangered American service members and risked operational security.
Investigators found Hegseth transmitted nonpublic DoD material from his personal device to other senior administration officials and to the editor in chief of The Atlantic. Some of the material matched operational information U.S. Central Command had classified SECRET/NOFORN, the IG said. Per Central Command guidance, details about operational aircraft movements should be classified SECRET.
Defense Department rules require officials who downgrade or declassify information to notify recipients and to apply appropriate classification markings. The IG determined Hegseth did not notify participants in the Signal chat that he had declassified the material, nor did he notify U.S. Central Command, which continued to treat the information as classified. The report emphasized that a SECRET classification denotes disclosure without proper declassification could cause serious damage to national security, and that a NOFORN restriction bars dissemination to foreign nationals or allied personnel.
The IG warned the actions “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.” Sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News the report concluded that, had a foreign adversary intercepted the Signal messages, U.S. troops and mission outcomes could have been put at clear risk.
Hegseth declined an in-person interview with the IG and answered questions in writing. He refused to provide his personal cell phone for examination. His office provided some messages that matched those published by The Atlantic but withheld messages that had auto-deleted because of chat settings. Investigators sought copies of messages from other Signal group chats Hegseth reportedly used, but without access to his device they could not verify whether those chats contained sensitive or classified DoD information.
A classified version of the IG’s findings was transmitted to Congress; the unredacted report was made public on Thursday. The IG noted Hegseth has the authority to declassify information but concluded that some of the messages he sent corresponded to CENTCOM’s SECRET/NOFORN operational data and that disclosure without following required procedures risked undermining operational security.
The report comes after The Atlantic published portions of the Signal chat. The day after that publication, U.S. Africa Command, working with Somalia’s government, reported conducting multiple airstrikes near the Golis Mountains against ISIS-Somalia operatives. Following questions about whether the Signal content was classified, CBS News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with AFRICOM seeking details about a March 25 Somalia strike. AFRICOM later told CBS News the material was properly classified under Executive Order 13526 and that release would foreseeably harm national security, a determination signed by Maj. Gen. Matthew Trollinger for AFRICOM leadership.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the IG review “a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth,” saying no classified information was shared and that the matter is closed. Hegseth also posted on X that he was “totally exonerated” and reiterated that no classified information was disclosed.
The White House press secretary said the IG review “affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning — no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised,” and expressed support for Hegseth and the President’s national security team.
Republican defenders’ statements drew sharp pushback from top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, who called for Hegseth’s resignation. Sen. Mark Warner said the IG knew of multiple Signal chats Hegseth used for official business, suggesting the conduct was part of a broader pattern of poor judgment. Rep. Jim Himes said Hegseth’s behavior would cost others their jobs and criticized his refusal to hand over his device. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Senate Armed Services Committee member and military veteran, described the report as a “jaw-dropping breach of our national security,” saying sharing operational timing and aircraft positions is clearly classified and dangerous, and that after-the-fact claims of unilateral declassification do not excuse the conduct.
The IG report reiterated investigators’ inability to review messages that auto-deleted before they could be captured and their inability to validate content from other chats without Hegseth’s phone. The report’s findings and the limits of the probe underscore both the potential risks of discussing operational details on personal devices and the challenges investigators face when officials decline to provide access to those devices.
Hegseth had previously downplayed the controversy at a public event, joking he would “hit you up on Signal later” to a U.N. ambassador in the audience. The report and the responses it generated mark a fresh chapter in scrutiny over how senior officials handle sensitive national security information.
Kaia Hubbard and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.