Pentagon Probe Launched into Signal Use by Secretary of Defense Amid Yemen Leak
On Thursday, the Office of the Inspector General of the Pentagon announced the initiation of an investigation regarding the use of the messaging application Signal by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. This probe comes in the wake of a March 15 incident where conversations among high-ranking Trump Administration officials concerning American military actions in Yemen were inadvertently leaked to a journalist from The Atlantic.
The investigation aims to scrutinize whether Hegseth’s use of Signal was in compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) guidelines, particularly focusing on whether sensitive information shared during these chats was classified, or ought to have been classified.
The document, accessed by Reuters, outlines that the assessment will determine how well Secretary Hegseth and other personnel adhered to DoD policies concerning the use of commercial messaging applications for government-related matters. Furthermore, the review will include an evaluation of compliance with classification protocols and record retention requirements.
Stebbins, who became the Acting Inspector General in January, has taken charge of the investigation following significant staffing changes within the oversight body of the Department of Defense after President Donald Trump dismissed the previous head during his first week in office.
In his defense, Hegseth has maintained that no classified information was disclosed during the chat sessions despite the conversations including precise details about the timing of U.S. airstrikes and specific target information that is typically shielded from public knowledge prior to military operations.
As this investigation unfolds, it raises important questions about the handling of sensitive communications within the Department of Defense and the implications of using non-traditional messaging platforms for official discussions.
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