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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Pentagon watchdog has completed review of Hegseth’s use of Signal, | |
sources say | |
By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN | |
Updated: | |
12:03 PM EDT, Mon September 15, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
The Pentagon’s internal watchdog has completed a of use of Signal to | |
discuss sensitive military operations and has submitted its findings to | |
Hegseth for review, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. | |
Hegseth will now have the opportunity to comment and provide feedback | |
on the Pentagon Inspector General’s findings, which is standard | |
practice for such reviews, before the final report is provided to | |
Congress in the coming days, the sources said. A version of it will | |
likely be made public, one of the sources said. | |
The Office of the Inspector General declined to comment, telling CNN | |
that “to protect the integrity of our process, we do not discuss | |
ongoing reviews.” | |
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told CNN that “per | |
longstanding Department of War policy, we do not comment on ongoing | |
investigations.” In July, however, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean | |
Parnell confirmed that Hegseth had provided a written statement to the | |
inspector general and called the IG review “a political witch hunt by | |
Biden administration holdovers” and “a sham, conducted in bad faith | |
and with extreme bias.” | |
It is not yet clear what the final report will say, and Hegseth and his | |
office have consistently denied that he shared any classified | |
information on Signal. | |
The Pentagon’s inspector general launched the review in April after | |
The Atlantic revealed that Hegseth had shared information from his | |
Signal account related to US military operations in Yemen, which | |
included precise details about the timing, choreography and assets | |
involved in pending US strikes against the Houthi rebel group. | |
Following that report, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate | |
Armed Services Committee requested an IG review to determine whether | |
Hegseth violated any laws related to the handling of classified | |
information or records retention for federal employees. | |
Hegseth’s account shared details about the anti-Houthi military | |
operation in at least two separate Signal group chats, one of which | |
included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, CNN has reported. One | |
witness told the inspector general’s office over the course of the | |
review that they recalled being a part of about a dozen separate Signal | |
chats that included Hegseth, but it’s not clear if they all contained | |
sensitive operational details, CNN also reported. | |
The inspector general examined whether anyone else could have | |
physically entered the information into the Signal chat at Hegseth’s | |
request, and asked witnesses whether others had access to his phone, | |
CNN has reported. | |
The inspector general also received evidence that the military plans | |
disclosed by Hegseth’s account were taken from a US Central Command | |
document that was marked classified at the time. | |
The document was marked Secret/NOFORN, meaning no foreign nationals | |
should see it, CNN reported. Hegseth has original classification | |
authority, so he was authorized to declassify any information before he | |
shared it, sources told CNN at the time. But it’s unclear if he did | |
so. | |
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