Pentagon watchdog says Hegseth’s use of Signal endangered US personnel

A Pentagon watchdog has reportedly concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have put US forces and their mission at risk by discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen over a Signal group chat.

According to the Associated Press, the report also says that Hegseth improperly used a personal device for official communications, but also notes he had the authority to declassify the information he shared.

The watchdog’s report comes at a time when Hegseth is also facing congressional scrutiny over a separate follow-up strike that killed survivors of an attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September.

The Signal exchange came to light after an editor at The Atlantic was mistakenly added to the chat.