Watchdog finds Hegseth risked endangering troops by sharing sensitive war plans on Signal, sources say
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/politics/watchdog-report-hegseth-signal
Exclusive: Watchdog finds Hegseth risked endangering troops by sharing sensitive war plans on Signal, sources say
By Zachary Cohen, Jake Tapper
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report.
The repercussions of Hegseths action, two sources told CNN, are less clear since the IG concluded that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify information and Hegseth asserted he made an operational decision in the moment to share that information, though there is no documentation of such a decision.
An unclassified version of the report is set to be publicly released Thursday. The classified report was sent to Congress on Tuesday night.
Messages sent from Hegseths Signal account to the group chat, the contents of which sources previously confirmed to CNN included material from documents marked classified at the time they were sent, offered specific, real-time updates about planned military strikes. They were so specific that one even read: This is when the first bombs will drop.
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