根据一名阅读机密调查报告的人和另一名了解调查结果的消息人士的说法，五角大楼的一个监督机构得出结论，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯(Pete Hegseth)在使用Signal商业消息应用程序转发有关计划在也门进行军事打击的信息时，冒着暴露可能危及美国军队的敏感信息的风险。
两个消息来源称，国防部监察长得出结论，在国防部长与他的同事和妻子分享信息之前，Hegseth在Signal中提供的信息已经由美国中央司令部妥善保密。但知情人士表示，由于这些信息非常敏感，如果落入敌人手中，可能会给部队带来危险，IG得出结论，不应该使用商业应用程序传递这些信息。
消息人士说，根据报告，Hegseth拒绝坐下来接受调查的一部分采访。但他在一份声明中告诉IG，因为他有权对信息进行分类和解密，所以他在自己的权利范围内行事。
Hegseth还在给IG的声明中坚持说，他在聊天中分享的信息不是敏感的，如果暴露，不会让部队面临风险-IG拒绝了这一说法。
美国有线电视新闻网是第一个在IG报告中报告发现的。
IG办公室拒绝对ABC新闻发表评论。
在X周三晚上的一篇帖子中，Hegseth说，“没有机密信息。完全免责。结案了。胡塞人被炸得屈服了。感谢您对这份IG报告的关注。”
在与美国广播公司新闻分享的一份声明中，白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特说，这份报告“肯定了政府从一开始就说过的话——没有机密信息被泄露，行动安全没有受到损害”，并补充说“特朗普总统支持海格塞斯部长。”
有代表性的圣经》和《古兰经》传统中)亚当(人类第一人的名字众议院军事委员会(House Armed Services Committee)资深民主党人史密斯在一份声明中称IG的报告是“一份谴责性的审查”，抨击海格塞思是“一个没有能力的秘书”，具有“糟糕的判断力”。
“他选择传达这一信息的方式将服役人员置于危险之中，”史密斯说。“此外，Hegseth拒绝与IG会面和回答问题所表现出的缺乏透明度令人高度关切。即使在这份报告发表后，国防部长仍拒绝为自己的行为负责。”
海格塞思的助手蒂姆·帕拉托雷(Tim Parlatore)在与美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的电话中反驳了IG的调查结果，即国防部长的行动可能危及美国飞行员，称这只是为他“开脱”的更广泛调查的一小部分。
“这与报告的其他部分没有关联，”海格塞思的长期私人律师、同时也是特别顾问的帕拉托雷说。
“它引用了调查者的观点，没有任何文件、采访或调查的支持，”Parlatore补充说。“也没有与之相关的推荐。”
Parlatore证实，在调查期间，IG办公室曾要求进入Hegseth的个人电话。但是海格塞斯拒绝了这个请求Parlatore说，出于对隐私的担忧，也因为IG办公室没有权限提出这样的要求。
Palatore被包括在促使IG调查的一次信号聊天中。除了向副总统和其他高级政府官员发送攻击计划外，赫格塞斯还在另一条短信中转述了细节，其中包括帕勒托尔、赫格塞斯的妻子詹妮弗和他在国土安全部担任高级顾问的哥哥菲尔·赫格塞斯。
IG的非机密调查结果预计将于周四公布。
去年3月，《大西洋月刊》披露了信号群聊的存在，涉及唐纳德·特朗普总统国家安全团队的几名成员，包括海格塞思、副总统JD·万斯和特朗普当时的国家安全顾问迈克·华尔兹。
据《大西洋月刊》报道，华尔兹无意中把它的执行编辑杰弗里·戈德堡加到了聊天中，其中包括对即将到来的军事攻击计划的讨论也门境内由胡塞武装分子控制的地点。
在白宫后来证实为真实的聊天中，Hegseth透露了打击将如何展开以及何时进行，包括使用F-18战斗机和战斧巡航导弹。
“这是第一枚炸弹肯定会投下的时候，”海格塞斯一度写道，他指的是也门，并指出军事时间是14点15分(下午2点15分)，在袭击之前。
有消息称，黑格斯在一次单独的聊天中传达了类似的细节，其中包括他不工作的妻子在五角大楼。
3月15日，军队发动进攻按照信号聊天中的描述展开，美国战机击中了数十个胡塞武装目标，包括导弹，雷达和防空系统。
在回应此事时，黑格斯和他的首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔反复强调这些信息不是机密。中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫和国家情报总监塔尔西·加巴德也作证说，聊天内容不包括机密信息。
帕内尔4月20日在X上写道:“无论他们试图用多少种方式来写这个故事，任何信号聊天中都没有保密信息。”
在4月22日对福克斯新闻频道的采访中，赫格塞斯说，这些信息是“媒体协调的非正式非机密协调”
去年春天，参议院军事委员会主席罗杰·威克和杰克民主党领袖里德呼吁对信息处理进行调查。
“最近公布的信息在我看来非常敏感，根据我的知识，我早就想把它列为机密，”柳条当时说。
Pentagon IG finds Hegseth could have endangered troops with Signal chat, sources say
A Pentagon watchdog concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked exposing sensitive information that could have endangered U.S. troops when he relayed information about a planned military strike in Yemen using the Signal commercial messaging app, according to a person who read the classified investigative report and another source with knowledge of the findings.
The Defense Department's inspector general concluded that the information Hegseth put in Signal had been properly classified by U.S. Central Command prior to the secretary sharing the information with his colleagues and his wife, two sources said. But because the information was so sensitive and risked putting troops in danger if it fell into enemy hands, the IG concluded it should not have been relayed using the commercial app, the people familiar with the details said.
The sources said that, according to the report, Hegseth refused to sit down for an interview as part of the investigation. But he told the IG in a statement that because he has the power to classify and declassify information, he acted within his rights.
Hegseth also insisted in his statement to the IG that the information he shared in the chat was not sensitive and that it would not put troops at risk if exposed -- an assertion the IG rejected.
CNNwas first to report on the findings in the IG report.
The IG office declined to comment to ABC News.
In a post on X Wednesday evening, Hegseth said, "No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. Thank you for your attention to this IG report."
In a statement shared with ABC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report "affirms what the Administration has said from the beginning -- no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised” and added"President Trump stands by Secretary Hegseth."
Rep.AdamSmith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement called the IG report "a damning review," blasting Hegseth as "an incompetent secretary" with "poor judgment."
"The way he chose to communicate this information put service members at risk,"Smith said."Further, the lack of transparency that Hegseth displayed by refusing to meet with the IG and answer questions is highly concerning. Even after the release of this report, the Secretary refuses to take responsibility for his actions."
Hegseth aide Tim Parlatore pushed back in a phone call with ABC News against the findings by the IG that the defense secretary’s actions could have endangered U.S. pilots, calling it a small portion in a broader investigation that "exonerates" him.
"It's untethered from the rest of the report," said Parlatore, Hegseth's longtime personal lawyer who also serves as a special adviser.
"It's citing the opinion of the investigator that's unsupported from any documents, interviews or inquiries," Parlatore added. "And there's no recommendation related to it."
Parlatore confirmed that during the investigation, the IG office had requested access to Hegseth's personal phone. But Hegseth denied the requestover privacy concerns and because the IG office does not have jurisdiction to make such a request, Parlatore said.
Palatore was included in one of the Signal chats that prompted the IG investigation.In addition to texting the attack plans to the vice president and other senior administration officials, Hegseth relayed the details in a separate text that included Parlatore, Hegseth’s wife Jennifer and his brother Phil Hegseth, who works as a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security.
The unclassified findings by the IG are expected to be released Thursday.
Last March, The Atlantic revealed the existence of the Signal group chat that involved several members of President Donald Trump's national security team, including Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Trump's national security adviser at the time, Mike Waltz.
According to The Atlantic, Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, its executive editor, to the chat, which included discussions about an upcoming military plan to attacksites in Yemen controlled by Houthi militants.
In the chat, which the White House later confirmed as authentic, Hegseth revealed how a strike would unfold and when, including the use of F-18 fighter jets and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
"THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP," Hegseth wrote at one point, referencing Yemen and noting the military time of 1415 (2:15 p.m.) ahead of the strike.
Sources say Hegseth relayed similar details in a separate chat that included his wife, who does not workat the Pentagon.
On March 15, the military attackunfolded as described in the Signal chat, with U.S. jets hitting dozens of Houthi targets, including missiles,radarand air defense systems.
When responding to the fallout, Hegseth and his chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, insisted repeatedly that the information was not classified. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, also testified that the chat did not include classified information.
"There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story," Parnell wrote on X on April 20.
In an April 22 interview on Fox News, Hegseth said the information was "informal unclassified coordination for media coordination."
Last spring, Sens. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and JackReed, the top Democrat, called for the IG investigation into the handling of the information.
"The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on myknowledge, I would have wanted it classified,"Wicker said at the time.
