Pentagon Investigation Reveals Hegseth Texted Real-Time Strike Details on Signal, Putting U.S. Forces at Risk

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed sensitive operational information about U.S. airstrikes in Yemen using the encrypted messaging app Signal, raising concerns that he may have put American personnel and missions at risk, according to a classified Pentagon inspector general report described to CNN by four sources familiar with its findings.

Messages sent from Hegseth's Signal account in March included real-time strike timelines, with one noting: "this is when the first bombs will drop." The communication involved a group chat of senior Trump administration officials. A journalist — Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic — was added inadvertently to that conversation by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, according to reports from earlier this year.

The inspector general concluded that Hegseth has authority to declassify information but found no documented decision showing he had done so before posting details from a document labeled Secret/NOFORN, meaning it could not be shared with foreign nationals, as CNN reveals.

The report further states Hegseth should not have used Signal and that senior Defense Department officials require improved training on information-handling protocols, sources said.

Hegseth declined to be interviewed by investigators, instead submitting written responses. He maintains that his classification authority and operational judgment allowed him to share the information, and that his use of Signal did not violate preservation rules under the Federal Records Act, according to a source familiar with his view.

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The investigation found that Hegseth shared strike details in at least two separate Signal chats. One included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to prior reporting by The Associated Press. Witnesses told the inspector general they participated in up to a dozen Signal groups that included Hegseth, though it remains unclear how many contained operational material.

The Atlantic later published the full chat, showing Hegseth providing launch times for Navy F-18s, the opening of a "strike window," and the timing of Tomahawk missile launches. "We are currently clean on OPSEC," he wrote, using the abbreviation for operational security.

The disclosures come as Hegseth faces scrutiny over lethal U.S. operations against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth issued a verbal directive to "kill everybody" during a Sept. 2 strike near Venezuela, where two survivors were allegedly targeted in a second follow-up attack while clinging to wreckage. Hegseth has denied giving any such order, calling the report "fake news."

The Pentagon inspector general's Signal report is expected to be made public as those inquiries widen, adding pressure on Hegseth's standing inside the administration.

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