The inspector general of the Department of Defense (DOD) is launching an investigation into Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive information about military operations in Yemen.
The probe, announced on Thursday, follows a bipartisan request from the Senate armed services committee after allegations emerged that highly precise – and most likely classified – intelligence about impending US airstrikes in Yemen, including strike timing and aircraft models, had been shared in a Signal group chat that included a journalist.
Investigators will also review compliance with classification and records retention requirements – which appear to have been defied by a timer set on the channel.
The investigation will “determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DOD personnel complied with DOD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business”, the memo reads.
The Republican senate armed services committee chair, Roger Wicker, and Democrat ranking member Jack Reed requested the investigation after learning that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, was included in a Signal group chat with national security council members discussing Yemen operations.
“This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen,” the senators wrote in their letter.
“If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”