(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Pentagon's watchdog determined that War Secretary Pete Hegseth put US personnel and their mission at risk by using the Signal messaging app to share sensitive information about a military strike against Yemen's Houthi militants, according to AP's sources familiar with the findings who spoke on Wednesday.

However, Hegseth has the authority to declassify information, and the report did not find that he did so improperly, one source familiar with the findings said on condition of anonymity. That person also stated that the report concluded Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using his personal device for official matters and recommended improved training for all Pentagon officials.

Hegseth declined an interview with the Pentagon's inspector general but provided a written statement, the source said. The War Secretary maintained that he was allowed to declassify information as he saw fit and only shared details he believed“would not endanger the mission.”

The initial findings, first reported by CNN, increase scrutiny on the former Fox News host after lawmakers requested the independent review of his use of the commercial app.

Lawmakers also recently launched investigations into a news report that a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September killed survivors after Hegseth verbally ordered to“kill everybody.”

Hegseth defended the strike as happening in the“fog of war,” stating he didn't see any survivors but also“didn't stick around” for the rest of the mission, and that the admiral in charge“made the right call” in ordering the second strike. He also did not admit fault following the Signal revelations, asserting that the information was unclassified.

“The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along - no classified information was shared,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman said in a statement.“This matter is resolved, and the case is closed.”

President Donald Trum“stands by” Hegseth, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding that the probe affirms that“no classified information was leaked, and operational security was not compromised.”

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In at least two separate Signal chats, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop, before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.

Hegseth's use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. It included Vice President JD Vance Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.

Hegseth had created another Signal chat with 13 people that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of the same strike, AP reported.

Also Read | Hegseth defiant as Pentagon faces heat over strike on drug boat survivors

Signal is encrypted but is not authorized for carrying classified information and is not part of the Pentagon's secure communications network.

Hegseth previously has said none of the information shared in the chats was classified. Multiple current and former military officials have told the AP there was no way details with that specificity, especially before a strike took place, would have been OK to share on an unsecured device.

The review was delivered to lawmakers, who were able to review the report in a classified facility at the Capitol. A partially redacted version of the report was expected to be released publicly later this week.

Hegseth said he viewed the investigation as a partisan exercise and did not trust the inspector general, according to one of the people familiar with the report's findings. The review had to rely on screenshots of the Signal chat published by the Atlantic because Hegseth could not provide more than a small handful of his Signal messages, the person said.

When asked about the investigation in August, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters that "we believe that this is a witch hunt and a total sham and being conducted in bad faith.”

The revelations sparked intense scrutiny, with Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans saying Hegseth posting the information to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets potentially put those pilots' lives at risk. They said lower-ranking members of the military would have been fired for such a lapse.

Some Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees suggested Wednesday that Hegseth's actions would be a fireable offense for anyone else.

“This was not an isolated lapse. It reflects a broader pattern of recklessness and poor judgment from a secretary who has repeatedly shown he is in over his head,” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said in a statement.

The inspector general had opened its investigation into Hegseth at the request of the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

After Hegseth's Signal messages, which included the Atlantic's editor, became public, the magazine released the full thread in late March. In the messages, Hegseth shared multiple details about an upcoming strike, using military terminology and specifying when a“strike window” would begin, the location of a“target terrorist", timing elements of the attack, and when various weapons and aircraft would be deployed. He also stated that the US was“currently clean” on operational security.

Hegseth told Fox News Channel in April that the information he shared over Signal was“informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things".

Key Takeaways

• Pete Hegseth put US personnel and their mission at risk by using the Signal messaging app to share sensitive information about a military strike against Yemen's Houthi militants, says report.
• The War Secretary maintained that he was allowed to declassify information as he saw fit and only shared details he believed“would not endanger the mission".

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